


And I'm Telling You... I'm NOT Going

by garbagegirls



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bounty Hunters, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Mutual Pining, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-09-27 09:00:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9993572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garbagegirls/pseuds/garbagegirls
Summary: Maggie is an ambitious bounty hunter interested in impressing the FBI. Alex Danvers is the target that's going to get her noticed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Alex**

Alex Danvers entered a quiet diner in Louisville, Kentucky, and made her way to the back, corner booth, which was conveniently next to the emergency exit and in perfect view of the diner’s only entrance. Business had brought her to Louisville multiple times over the years and every time she visited, she always made a point to visit the hole-in-the-wall diner.

There were a few staff who had come to know her by name, staff whom she trusted, and while all she really wanted to do that morning was have her coffee and read the news, she had felt phantom footsteps following her and needed their help to shake the shadow off the cusp of her trail.

As the waitress, Marianne, approached Alex, a few other people entered the diner and got settled at tables and around the bar. Alex smiled at Marianne and ordered coffee without looking around.

“Marianne,” Alex said in a whisper, “Out of the corner of my eye, I can count six people who entered the diner after me. Can you tell me if all of them are regulars?”

Marianne discreetly turned and yelled to the kitchen, “Bill, are we out of the sticky buns this morning?” allowing her eyes to comb over the restaurant. They both heard a ‘nope, we got enough for the whole day…’ from Bill, but tuned it out.

“Most are regulars. There are two people I haven’t seen before—one is the woman to your right in the yellow dress, and the other is the woman in the leather jacket at the bar. What’s wrong, honey? Someone following you?”

“I suspect. Care to help me weed out the tail?”

“So long as you tip like you always do… I’ll start with the one in the leather. Seems more practical of a clothing choice for tailing someone.”

 

**Marianne**

Marianne wasn’t an idiot. She knew there had to be more to Alex Danvers than what met the eye, and yet despite sensing that something was off with the young woman, she still couldn’t help but like her. Something about her screamed military, and as an ex-Army nurse, Marianne admired women in combat. Not only that, but Alex had always been kind to her, asking her about her grandchildren and life, and she _always_ tipped well. To Marianne it was a no-brainer to help the woman out.

Marianne walked to the bar and crossed it into kitchen to speak with the waitress whose tables the women were seated at.

“Helen, have you greeted either of those women yet?”

“Not yet, still working on getting drinks for the family that entered ahead of ‘em.”

“Can I exchange my next two tables for those? I was hoping to get out of here a little early to see my grandson’s baseball game this afternoon.” It was a deliberate lie, but Helen didn’t need to know the details.

“Sure thing, Mari. But I expect the same favor next time I need a morning off.”

Marianne shook her head, then exited the kitchen to greet the woman in leather.

“Good morning, honey. How are you doin’ today?”

“Can’t complain.”

“Never seen you around before. You new here?”

“Just passing through.”

“Well, happy to have you. Hope you get a chance to see the sights. There’s the Kentucky Derby museum, one for the Louisville slugger, too; there’s the Muhammad Ali Center; there’s Churchill Downs, the race track…”

“Unfortunately, I’m just here for business so I doubt I’ll have the time.”

“Sorry to hear that, sweetie, but you must, must, must find time to try some Kentucky bourbon, if you’re into that. The woman in the corner over there,” Marianne pointed to Alex, “she’s been coming here for business for years and she thanked me for making her try all the different bourbons… Say hello, Alex!” Marianne shouted then turned back to the woman. “Maybe she could show you around.”

The woman adjusted uncomfortably, turning to sneak a quick glance at the woman behind her.

“Thanks, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Like I said, I’ve got business.”

“Sure thing, honey. Let me get you a coffee while you think about it.”

 

**Maggie**

Maggie Sawyer walked into the diner moments after her mark had, trudging over to take an inconspicuous seat at the bar-top, happily aware that her target was a mere eight feet behind her and to her right.

Maggie loved being a bounty hunter, playing cat and mouse. She didn’t quite consider herself a predator but she loved preying on bad guys, loved capturing them and turning them into the FBI. She’d always wanted to be a cop as a kid but she detested authority. Bounty hunting a compromise. Sure, she wished she had a team, and an office, and police resources, but they were the price she had to pay to call her own shots. At least for now.

Following her gut had always paid off. She’d turned two leaders of different international crime syndicates, one serial killer, and a two-person cyber-terrorist team in to the FBI. One more high-profile mark and maybe the FBI would take notice, maybe they’d ask her to be a consultant and she’d have access to their assets without having to answer to anyone. Then she'd be able to have her cake and eat it too.

Maggie smiled. This target could be the one to do it. Capturing Alex Danvers could be the first distinguished notch in her long and impressive career; however, what the FBI wanted with the woman was a mystery. She was sure her previous targets were higher profile, more important. _They were really bad guys._ But this Alex Danvers woman? She was a thief. Sure, she was a high-profile thief, but she wasn’t causing wars or killing people. he bounty on the woman was more than all of the other bounties of the criminals she’d taken to the FBI. What was it that she was missing?

Maggie was mentally revisiting the research she’d done on the thief when the waitress stopped by. The woman—Marianne, as her nametag read—was a chatterbox. Maggie tried to be stand-offish to dissuade the woman from talking too much, but it seemed to fuel her even more. She was insistent on Maggie seeing the sights, on tasting the bourbon. Maggie shook her head and declined but then Marianne was calling Alex’s name and suggesting the woman show her around. Maggie’s eyes went wide for a brief moment. She calmed herself and nodded politely at Marianne as she declined once more, but not before stealing a fleeting over-the-shoulder glance at her target, which was definitely, absolutely, and one-hundred percent a mistake.

Maggie had been tailing Alex since the thief left the lobby of her hotel that morning. Maggie had researched the woman, had seen pictures, enough pictures to be familiar enough with the woman to tail her behind all day. And sure, Maggie might have sneaked a look at her ass and appreciated the _view_ , but she lurked in the shadow, out of the proximity of a clear view of the woman’s face. She followed her all morning without knowing what she was missing.

But that glance? It was three seconds of earth-shattering eye contact. Alex Danvers was bewitching. She knew Alex was beautiful from the pictures, but there was so much more to the woman’s beauty than what could be captured in a still. There was a liveliness about her, a vivacious aura that surrounded her. Her auburn hair caught the sunlight and reflected it outward, the light shimmered around her head like a renaissance halo. Strands fell gracefully around her fair skin and her pursed pink lips. Just as Maggie briefly searched Alex’s eyes she could feel Alex searching her own, yet where the bounty hunter expected to see anger or emptiness, she instead saw only warmth.

When Maggie casually snapped her head back to Marianne, declined, and watched the waitress finally walk away, she let out a sigh.

Alex Danvers: Master thief. Wanted by the FBI. Current target. Inexplicably beautiful.

_Great._

**Alex**

Alex watched the interaction out of the corner of her eye until she heard her name and looked up. What the hell was Marianne doing saying her name aloud? Alex tensed, then saw the woman at the bar turn to make eye contact with her.

Alex froze for a moment, lost in the eyes of a woman who was potentially tailing her. She was gorgeous. Olive skin and dark brown hair and big, brown eyes. Alex broke the gaze and looked away, pushing the attraction out of her mind.

Alex continued pretending to do the cross word puzzle until Marianne returned with her coffee. She discreetly demanded to know what the hell Marianne was thinking by calling her out like that, and the waitress responded in a whisper.

“She’s definitely your tail, Alex. I was thinking that if you show her around you might be able to get a leg up, since she doesn’t know you know she’s following you.”

“I don’t think she’ll fall for it, and that's if she doesn’t already know... and I’m not convinced that’s the case.”

“Well, you could try to lose her, but I have a feeling she’ll be back on your trail in no time. If you connect under the guise of showing her around I think you’d have the upper-hand regardless of whether or not she knows. You have height and weight on her anyways should it go south.”

Alex thought about it. Marianne was right that the woman would catch up with her if she made a quick escape. Offering to show the woman around was probably the better option, but even though Alex did have height and weight on the woman and was skilled at various types of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat, she wondered about the skills the other woman possessed. She could be an alien, some kind of shape-shifter or humanoid species, and while that didn’t make her hesitate, other things did. Like the way the woman’s lips parted when they made eye contact and how her dimples formed, tentatively from an accidental smirk. And of course those things would make her hesitate, not only because this woman was clearly attractive and Alex very much enjoyed attractive women, but also because if she were to convince this woman that she was not privy to the details surrounding her presence, she’d have to play a believable angle. Pretending to show the woman around out of the kindness of her heart wouldn’t work because she was a criminal, and criminals were selfish… so that left…  

_No big deal. I’ve done it plenty of times before._

Alex pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and set it on the table, then got up and walked towards the woman who had spent the morning following her.

 

**Maggie**

“Hey there…”

Maggie’s breath slowed as she turned around to look at her target, the target who was suddenly close enough that Maggie could smell the modest, floral scent of the woman’s perfume. They locked eyes again and Maggie felt a smile creeping across her face without her permission.

“Uh, hi.”

“Pardon the interruption, miss,” Alex said with a faint southern drawl, “the waitress mentioned that you might be looking for someone to show you around the city?”

“I’m actually in town on business… I wasn’t planning on seeing any sights.” Maggie slightly squinted at Alex. The woman was putting on a façade. It was a good southern accent, albeit fake considering that everything she’d read about the thief said she was born and raised in Midvale.

“Well, we have that in common. Are you in town for the micro-distillery convention?”

“I am.”

“Then you simply must let me take you around to some of the local distilleries.” Alex winked.

“You don’t seem to be the kind of person to take no for an answer.”

“Oh, I certainly can, but it’s rare that I do when I see something I want.”

Maggie’s cheeks flushed. Not only was this woman putting on a façade, but she was also trying to pick Maggie up.

“I can see that you’re hesitant, I am a stranger after all, but I’ve been coming to Louisville for years and I can honestly say that you won’t find a cuter tour guide than me.”

Maggie let out a sigh and smirked. _If I have to pretend to be into this woman just to get her to the FBI so be it. At least it will be more fun this way._

“Okay,” Maggie said as she let her smile extend to her eyes and put her hands up, “you’ve convinced me. Lead the way…?”

“Alex. Alex Monroe.” Alex stuck her hand out to shake Maggie’s.

“Nice to meet you, Alex. I’m Mag—Megan. Megan Sailor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, comments, and feedback welcome!
> 
> Tumblr: @goldengarbagegirls


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Distilleries and feels.

**Maggie**

Alex and Maggie toured the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience and Kentucky Peerless Distilling, and unfortunately, because the afternoon had been centered on bourbon, Maggie had not yet obtained any helpful information regarding the thief, nor had she the opportunity to get the woman in a compromising position.

They made small talk throughout the tours and the first tasting. Now in the middle of their second, Maggie was starting to feel a little buzzed, and it seemed she wasn’t the only one. _So it begins_ , she thought, willing and happy to take advantage of the situation to get the thief right where she wanted her.

In handcuffs.

_Oh, uh…_

In the backseat of a cop car.

_Ah, still dirty..._

Behind bars.

_A little better…_

It was the sound of Alex’s voice that pulled Maggie out of her daze.

“So, Megan, what do you like in a bourbon?”

“Uh… I like oak?”

“That’s all? Don’t you work in bourbon distribution?”

“I do, but… I like nearly all bourbons, so it’s hard to pick which tastes I like best.”

“I see... And that goes for women, too?”

“Actually I prefer my women less oaky.... you?”

“I like a firm, dark bourbon. I like it… spicy and hot, not all at first, though… I _love_ a slow burn. And I’ll take it straight or… not…” Alex stood up, “so long as it’s got a good mouthfeel.”

Maggie swallowed hard as Alex finished her bourbon. The bounty hunter couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from her mark.

“…Are you sure you’re not talking about women?”

Alex leaned down and parted her lips, her hot breath causing goosebumps on Maggie’s neck. Maggie inhaled as their eyes met, full of hunger.

“Can’t it be both?”

A wicked smile stretched across Alex’s face as Maggie tried to calm herself, then without another word the woman stood and started to walk away before she turned, backpedaling towards the exit.

“Coming?”

**Alex**

Alex paused outside of the distillery as she waited for Maggie to catch up with her. Flirting with this _Megan—_ if that was even her real name—was fun. Though she would continue to do so for the time being, she was all too aware that it would be in her best interest to get a jump on the woman as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Alex few seconds into envisioning how best to take care of her tail when the woman in question exited the building.

“So… what now?”

“One last stop, but there’s something else you’ve got to see first.”

Alex started walking again and Maggie followed, starting to ask questions, prodding for useful details. Alex was pretty sure the woman was a bounty hunter because she didn’t give off a law enforcement vibe, but seemed to be more of a free spirit, marching to the beat of her own drum.

“So you’re visiting Louisville but you have a faint southern accent… where are you from?”

“I grew up in New Orleans but my family moved to Baltimore when I was sixteen. Haven’t been able to kick the slight drawl. What about you?”

“I grew up in Michigan. Went to college for a couple of semesters at a small liberal arts school in upstate New York before dropping out. It just wasn’t for me.”

 _Bingo_ , Alex thought.

“Don’t like people telling you what to do, or study in this case, I suppose?”

“You could say that.”

Throughout the walk to their destination, the conversation continued effortlessly. They talked about their fake childhoods and fake jobs and other fake aspects of their lives and even though the details were clearly all fabricated the conversation never lulled. It was like a very, very fake date, and sadly one that Alex _wished_ was real. If her actual dates had ever gone so well, maybe she wouldn’t be _so tragically single_ , she mused.

Upon reaching their stop, Alex grabbed Maggie’s hand and lead her to a bench overlooking the waterfront. The sun was just about to set and that particular spot was one of Alex’s favorite places in the world to watch the sun fall.

Maggie quietly gasped at the contact and Alex took note, pushing the reality of betraying the woman later that night to the back of her mind. It was rare she got attached or wished things were different, and while she’d never admit that this woman had already made her question those things, it was true. But the reality of the situation was that despite wanting to know the woman, or wanting to share herself with the woman, she had a mission that required her to push all desire away.

_But maybe in another life…_

As the sun sank past the edge of the earth, Alex could feel Maggie’s eyes on her and she turned to meet the woman’s gaze.

“Something a’matter, Megan?”

“Not at all… I was just admiring your aesthetic in the low-light.”

“The low light, huh? Don’t tell me you find me more attractive in the dark.”

Maggie smiled and Alex caught a direct view of the woman’s dimples, preciously etched into her adorable cheeks.

“I don’t know… I mean, I don’t have enough evidence to reach a conclusion. I think maybe I’ll have to see you… a bunch of different ways before I can tell you my preference.”

_Wow. Where did that come from?_

“Oh? Care to elaborate?”

“Well, you could be most beautiful on a Sunday morning, draped across a picnic blanket under the sun… or under the moonlight on the top of the Empire State building… or completely naked underneath me… on a beach… the possibilities are nearly endless.”

Alex felt a faint flush threatening her face. It had been so long since something like that had happened to her that she silently reprimanded herself, promising to get her shit together.

“And what is your initial hypothesis?”

“Hmm… I think I’m torn between the first and third scenarios.”

“And why is that?”

“Because they both have you on your back.”

_Damn._

“As good as I look on my back, Megan…” Alex smiled, “I assure you that I look even better on top.”

“Hmm…” Maggie paused for consideration before smiling and replying, “There’s only one way to find out: immediate, _rigorous_ experimentation.”

“We’ve got one more stop ahead of us, but maybe afterward… if you’re lucky.”

“I’m counting on it.”

 

**Maggie**

The last stop was a downtown bar that Maggie hadn’t got the name of. The place was crowded but low-profile, seeming to be more of a speak easy. Alex had given a password to get in and it made Maggie smile because it reminded her of her favorite bar back home. _Alex would like that place too._

They continued drinking, and though Maggie knew it was a bad idea she went along with it anyway. They ordered a couple of burgers and Maggie hoped that it would help to keep her on her toes, but after they’d finished their food Maggie was still feeling fairly buzzed.

“I’m going to grab another drink from the bar, do you want another bourbon, Alex?”

“Sure… surprise me.”

Maggie got up from her stool and sauntered over to the bar, catching the attention of the bartender.

“Hi, can I have a glass of… Woodford Reserve on the rocks, and a club soda, please?”

The bartender nodded and then prepared the drinks and slid them across the bar to Maggie. Maggie paid cash then walked back over the high-top where she and Alex were sitting.

“Here you are…”

Alex took her glass and then eyed Maggie’s drink.

“Switched to water so soon?”

“This?” Maggie asked, “I needed to switch to clear liquor… this is a vodka soda.”

When Alex hesitated for a moment, Maggie started to tense, thinking that Alex might not believe her and ask to taste her drink. She was relieved when after nearly a minute of silence Alex replied.

“Fair enough. Bourbon can seem to get heavier by the glass, especially when drinking it for prolonged periods.”

Maggie smiled and nodded in agreement.

After fifteen minutes or so, Alex had finished her drink and requested the bill and paid, then excused herself to the restroom.

It had only been a minute or so since Alex had gone when Maggie started to worry that the woman might be onto her, might be making her escape out a back exit. Maggie clenched, then got up and waited in line for the restroom, hoping Alex was the current occupant.

After another minute, Alex opened the door and saw Maggie waiting, pausing for a moment before smiling, grabbing Maggie’s arm and pulling the bounty hunter into the restroom before Maggie could process what was happening.

Before Maggie knew it, she was pinned up against the wall of a low-lit bathroom, the exposed brick of the wall digging into her shoulder blades. Her heart started to race.

_This was not part of the plan._

_Not part of the plan._

_Not part of the plan._

And then Alex was pressing herself against Maggie, and leaning in, and grabbing Maggie’s face and capturing her lips in a zealous kiss that Maggie had not expected to be so… heated, electrifying, or _real_ and Alex’s hands were roaming over her clothing and then under her shirt and pressing against her abs and sliding ever-so-slightly underneath the band of Maggie’s jeans and Maggie gasped because she shouldn’t be enjoying it but _fuck_ , this woman was touching her in all the right places.

“Alex,” Maggie moaned, as she tried to catch her breath.

Alex pulled back and looked at Maggie, eyes full of hunger. She was captivating.

“Want to take this back to my hotel room?”

Maggie nodded enthusiastically, looking forward to relieving the rising need between her legs.

Until it hit her that she still had a job to do.

 

**Alex**

They burst into Alex’s hotel room with a bang, tearing each other’s clothes off as their swollen lips clumsily connected. Alex pushed Maggie backwards towards the bed, stepping over their jackets in the process, as she pulled Maggie’s shirt over her head.

Alex paused to take the sight in. She had no words.

The woman was wearing a plain black Calvin Klein t-shirt bra. Nothing lacey or frilly. And Alex was speechless. _The woman could wear a trash bag and it’d be a designer gown on her._

After a few seconds of giving Alex the time she needed to appreciate her body, Maggie started unbuttoning Alex’s shirt with urgency. Once completely unbuttoned, Alex pushed Maggie to the edge of the bed and backward. Maggie leaned up on the bed as Alex lowered herself, meeting her half way, then running her hands under Alex’s shirt to push it over her shoulders and to the floor.

“You are so sexy.” Alex felt Maggie’s eyes as they ran over her body, making her shiver.

“Speak for yourself.”

Alex pulled Maggie to the top of the bed and after seeing the woman relax, she straddled her, looking down to meet Maggie’s eyes. _Intoxicating._

It was such a shame that this couldn’t be real. _They_ couldn’t be real. Together. Alex started to get lost in her thoughts, in the what-ifs, and the coulds, and the shoulds, and the woulds, and Maggie must have noticed Alex losing sight of what was in front of her because after a few seconds, the shorter woman was grabbing her face and pulling her down into a kiss.

A soft kiss. A kiss that Alex had needed for so long but never knew she needed. A kiss she never deserved. Delicate and deliberate.

She let herself sink into it for a moment, but then Maggie was reaching around Alex’s back to unhook her bra and Alex halted. She couldn’t do it. She didn’t know if the woman was playing a game or not, if she’d planned to sleep with her, then turn her into the FBI, but she couldn’t bear to ruin the moment, their perfect day together. Because for once, for the first time in her life, this woman made her feel something, and no matter how fake the woman was, whatever she felt for her was real.

So she would keep this memory intact, in some mental picture frame in the back of her mind, and bring it out on rainy, dreary days, when a small reminder that she could feel something real could keep her going, make her day a little brighter.

“I think I need a drink… I’ll be right back.”

**Maggie**

She didn’t mean to do it.

She didn’t mean to kiss her target.

Especially like that. So tender and slow.

She didn’t want to do it, or need to do it, but her brain and her body were working against one another.

Or…

_Were they?_

Because actually, she _had_ wanted to do it. She _had_ needed to do it.

But then the look on Alex’s face as they pulled away from each other…

_Shit._

And then Alex was getting up and going to grab a drink on the other side of her large hotel room, while Maggie lay on her back, staring at the ceiling.

What was that look? Hesitancy? Vulnerability?

Maggie closed her eyes and sighed. A few seconds later, she felt the side of the bed dip, and opened her eyes to meet Alex’s.

Alex’s energy was different when she handed Maggie a flute of champagne. Maggie shifted to sit up, accepting it.

“Oh, uh… I wasn’t planning on drinking anything else tonight. You know… big convention in the morning.”

“Of course, but what’s one more? Besides, you don’t have to finish it—I just wanted to make a toast to new beginnings.”

Maggie was uncertain but couldn’t say no to Alex’s pleading eyes. She sighed.

“Alright, toast away.”

Alex smiled, then raised her glass.

“To new friends… to… finding new hope in old promises. To you, Megan.”

Maggie smiled at Alex, then grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. They clinked their glasses together and then drank their champagne.

After a few sips, Alex took their glasses and placed them on the nightstand before turning and taking Maggie’s face into her hands, fingers lightly grazing behind her ears. She stared into Maggie’s eyes, and Maggie could see that something was different again. Alex’s eyes warm and sweet, but there was something else deep inside them that Maggie couldn’t pinpoint. Alex leaned in and touched her lips to Maggie’s once more and this time, Maggie felt _fire_ burning through her entire body.

Maggie’s eyes were still closed; lips were still parted when Alex pulled away from her. When Maggie opened her eyes, she felt dizzy.

No kiss had made her felt dizzy before.

What this woman did to her what beyond her comprehension.

But then… her hands started to sweat. And her eyes got heavy.

_And fuck._

**Alex**

Maggie was going to collapse at any moment. Alex moved to her, trying to position her so that she wouldn’t roll off the bed or hit her head. Maggie was not making it easy on her though, stiffening her body and jerking away from Alex. _Rightfully so._

“Relax. I’m trying to help.”

“You just… drugged me. How is that helping?”

“It was just a sleeping pill. You’ll be good as new tomorrow morning.”

“Uh… still. Not cool.”

“I’m sorry, but we both know why I had to do it. I don’t take kindly to being tailed.”

Alex got off the bed and started towards the door, grabbing her suitcase off the chair on her way over.”

“I won’t stop.”

Alex turned around, staring at the woman. She was adorable, even as she slurred her words.

“Usually I like hearing those things…”

“I mean it, Alex. I’ll follow you anywhere.”

 “And that… that would be sweet if it were in another context.”

She couldn’t help as her face fell. _If only it were in another context._

Alex put her suitcase down and walked over to Maggie, who was finally sinking into unconsciousness.

She leaned down and put a light kiss on the woman’s forehead.

_“I really am sorry, you beautiful stranger.”_

Alex put on her jacket, then pulled a phone out of her pocket and placed it on the nightstand. And with that, she started towards her next destination: National City.

**Maggie**

When Maggie finally woke up, the previous day’s events washed over her. She sighed. Alex had gotten the jump on her. The thief was surely long gone.

Maggie thought about how Alex did it, how she’d drugged her with a sleeping pill. Her body wasn’t sore and she didn’t feel hungover, so she assumed that the pill really was just a sleeping pill. Still, though, she didn’t know whether to be pissed or relieved. On one hand, using drugs to knock someone out without their consent made her cringe, _no matter what happened after_ , but on the other, considering the nature of their business, it was probably the kindest way to knock someone unconscious. Alex also could have instead taken the zip-tie route as opposed to knocking Maggie out, but Maggie was happy she didn’t. The things were a pain. They hurt to be in and break out of. On top of that, she hated to admit it but she felt better rested than she had in months.

Maggie got up from the bed and found her shirt and started to pull it on when a phone—a phone that wasn’t her own—started to ring. She turned her head to scan the room, and finally spotted the phone on the nightstand. She walked over and grabbed it. The caller ID said _UNKNOWN_. She tried to fight off a small, albeit persistent smile before she answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey there, stranger.”

 _Alex._ Her voice sounded just as sweet as before but without the southern drawl.

 _“_ You’ve got some nerve; you know?”

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“Really? Then how about you tell me where you are.”

“We both know I can’t do that.”

“Okay, so then, why are you calling?”

“I didn’t get your name.”

Maggie huffed.

“You mean… you didn’t just go riffling through my wallet to find whatever information you wanted? There were a couple of hundred dollar bills in there too…”

“First of all, I wouldn’t rifle through your things. I do have boundaries. And besides, that wouldn’t be very romantic anyway… and second of all, I’m not that kind of thief.”

“Oh, I don’t know, Danvers, it seems to me you’d steal anything for the right price.”

“That’s not true…”

“Oh yeah? Enlighten me.”

“Some things I steal for the adrenaline rush, or to please myself.”

Maggie’s eyebrows shots up at the implication.

“…Like?”

“Mostly paintings, but I’ve got my eye on something else right now.”

“And what would that be, Danvers?”

“Your heart.”

Maggie chuckled. She couldn’t believe that Alex Danvers, an FBI most wanted master thief, just dropped the cheesiest pickup line she’d ever heard. She could feel Alex smiling through the phone, proud of her setup and delivery.

“And how do you suppose you’ll do that?”

“I can’t tell you my plan—that wouldn’t be very effective, would it?”

“Well, how about you tell me where you are then.”

“How about you tell me your name.”

Maggie huffed again. This woman was going to make her _fucking crazy_.

“C’mon Danvers, you got to give me something.”

Silence.

Maggie rolled her eyes and decided to try a different angle.

“It’s just… I want to see you.”

“Mmm. And I want to see you.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Besides the fact that I still don’t know your name? How about the fact that you want to have me arrested?”

Maggie froze at Alex’s pseudo-question. Maggie was sure it was the most honest and direct thing either of them had said to one another since they met the previous day.

“I… I…”

Maggie struggled to find a viable explanation, but couldn’t seem to spit anything out. She _did_ want to have the woman arrested, or she _thought_ she did. She was less sure after their night together, but either way, she wanted the woman in handcuffs. Then she could make a decision.

The silence continued for far too long, until Alex, in all of her seemingly telepathic glory, broke it, summoning Maggie from her inner-dialogue.

“…It’s too early for handcuffs anyway.”

Maggie smiled.

“Danvers… “

“Wile E.”

“Wile E.? The coyote?”

“Yeah, the coyote that chases the bird…”

“But never catches it?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s an inaccurate nickname.”

“Well, I haven’t got anything else to call you.”

“I’m going to catch you.”

Maggie could feel Alex smiling through the phone again as she unsuccessfully fought the smirk that stretched across her own face.

“And I can’t wait to see you try.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maggie hot on Alex's trail.

**Alex**

Alex climbed a winding staircase up to a hidden loft in downtown National City, gaining entrance by authenticating against a cloaked, multi-factor biometric scanner. First, the system scanned her retina, then both of her thumbprints, then finally confirmed her identity via voice verification. As the steel door opened, Alex took a few steps in and put her bag down before Winn rolled out in his computer chair from around the corner.

“Hey, you’re back!”

“I am.”

“What do you think of the new security system? Pretty cool, huh?”

“Honestly? Don’t you think it’s a bit much?”

“What? No. Not when it comes to security. That shit’s important.”

“Whatever you say."

“So, how was Louisville?”

“It was uneventful for the most part.”

Winn giggled.

“You’re like the only person on the planet who would describe breaking into and stealing from a military black-ops site as _uneventful_.”

“Yeah, well… it went better than expected; however, whenever Lucy catches up… she’s _definitely_ going to go all Wrath of Lane on me.”

“Well, you should still have a few hours at least.”

“It’s really too bad you can’t build a phone that’s impossible to track.”

“I know… but this one is pretty close. It’s just those darn government supercomputers. On the plus side, once they break the encryption they’ll only be able to triangulate your location.”

“So… what’s the chance of someone else cracking the encryption?”

“Without a supercomputer? Highly unlikely. The person would have to be a freaking genius. Like… a bigger genius than me.”

“How modest of you.”

“I’m just saying… they’d have to be really, really intelligent.”

Alex went silent, lost in her thoughts. The bounty hunter didn’t seem like she’d be a hacker, but then again, she didn’t know the woman. _But God, the woman probably could do anything._

“Why do you ask?”

“What?”

“I asked why you’re asking.”

“Oh… no reason.”

“Alex.”

…

…

…

“Alex! What did you do?”

“Nothing! Just… do me a favor and access the FBI mainframe and get me all the files they have on bounty hunters that they’ve been in contact with over the last year.”

“Wait… no, no, no! That does not sound like nothing! Spill.”

…

…

…

“Alex!”

“Fine! …There was a bounty hunter yesterday and I got rid of her, but I’m worried she might show up again and cause more trouble.”

“Well, that explains why you were gone longer than I anticipated. Did you put the woman in her place?”

“Um, you could say that.”

“Okay, well… I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Hypothetically… should I worry if I, say, called her?”

“From your encrypted phone?”

“Mmhmm.”

Alex bit her bottom lip out of guilt as Winn sighed.

“Did she seem like a computer genius?”

“No…”

“Then you’re probably fine… just… don’t call her again.”

Alex put two fingers over her heart and nodded.

“Scouts honor.”

**Maggie**

After taking apart the phone that Alex gave her piece by piece and confirming there was no tracker or bug on the device, Maggie went back over her files on the thief, looking for anything that might point her in the right direction. And while she was hesitant of moving on from Louisville, she also knew she had to regroup. There was only so much research she’d brought on her trip, so she decided it would be in her best interest to make a quick stop home to scan the rest of it so she’d have it readily available by the time she picked up the hot scent of the thief.

On flight home to National City, Maggie scoured through the research she had brought with her. Historically, Alex had worked in the shadows for large corporations or the wealthy elite, obtaining whatever it was that they needed to retain their status; however, this time Maggie’s gut was telling her that whatever Alex was up to had less to do with her clientele and more to do with herself. Maggie searched online forums for chatter regarding shady or strange things happening around the country. On one forum, she got lucky: an anonymous source claimed that someone had broken into and stolen a top-secret weapon from a black-ops site in Louisville, Kentucky. _It had to be Alex._

Maggie opened an encrypted chat to contact an old friend for help getting more information.

 **M:** I need to collect on that favor you owe me.

 **O:** Wasn’t that debt already settled?

 **M:** Nice try. Taking me out for drinks after my girlfriend dumped me is more of a friendly favor. I need your help with something else.

 **O:** I was talking about holding your hair.

 **M:** Again… a friendly favor.

 **O:** It was very unpleasant.

Maggie smirked.

 **M:** Barb. Please. I wouldn’t ask for your help if I didn’t need it.

 **O:** Say pretty please.

 **M:** _Pretty please?_

 **O:** Shoot.

 **M:** There’s a black-ops site in Louisville that was broken into a couple of days ago. Is there any way you can hack into their system to see what was stolen?

 **O:** For that, I’m going to need your first born too.

 **M:** Can you do it?

 **O:** Of course I can. I’ll just need a few hours.

 **M:** Okay… and have I mentioned that I miss you?

 **O:** You are going to owe me so big. What else do you need?

 **M:** My new target left me a phone, and she’s a smart one, so I think it’s probably encrypted. Any way you can piggyback off our next phone call, break the encryption, then trace the call?

 **O:** Wow. I’m going to need your second born as well.

 **M:** What if I just show up at your place with two kids one day? What would you do?

 **O:** Train them to be hackers so that people stop asking me for favors.

 **M:** And how is Kate?

 **O:** Bat-shit crazy.

 **M:** So… nothing’s changed there.

 **O:** Text me when your target calls you next and I’ll see what I can do.

 **M:** I owe you one.

 **O:** You owe me _a lot more_ than one, M.

 

**Alex**

It was nice to be home in National City, nice to be on her couch, staring at her ceiling, alone in the loft. Winn had left to meet up with a contact to arrange the next phase of the plan and insisted that she stay behind to rest and clear her head until her mission resumed later that night. Winn’s insistence that she rest was normally a point of contention for her, but for some reason she was in a better mood that day and happily obliged.

 The only problem was that she couldn’t clear her head.

After Winn left the loft, Alex grabbed her yoga mat and unrolled it in the center of the ops room, onto the hardwood. She settled in the center of the mat, straightened her back and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, concentrating solely on her breathing.

The first few minutes went by swimmingly. _Nothin’ but net._

Yet, shortly thereafter, the black of her mind was interrupted by quick sparks of brown eyes.

And then flashes of dark strands.

And then streams of soft, olive skin.

And finally, bursts of the beautiful woman herself.

Alex had subsequently given up on pushing the woman out of her head after an hour of trying to think about _anything_ else. It was futile, apparently. Nothing could compare.

Alex had then decided to move to the couch, where she thought about the bounty hunter even as she started to drift into sleep. Then her phone rang.

Alex’s eyes shot open as she reached into her pocket to pull her phone out. She checked the ID. It was Winn.

“Winn? Is everything okay?”

“What? Oh. Yeah, everything is fine. I’m just waiting on our contact at a coffee shop in Chinatown. I’m calling because I got the information you asked for. I can send it your way via encrypted email if you’d like?”

Alex eyes widened.

“Yes!” Alex coughed, then continued while trying not to sound so excited. “Yes, uh, please send the information over immediately.”

“Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Heh. W-why would you ask that?”

“You’re just… you’ve been kind of _weird_ since you got back from Louisville.”

“I’m on my period.”

“Oh. God. Oh. No. I’m… I’m sorry. I will _never_ ask you why you’re being _weird_ again.”

“It’s just biology, Winn.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, in a lot of ways I’m still a fourteen-year-old boy.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Aw, shucks.”

“Now send me those files.”

…

“You were just buttering me up.”

…

“Fine, fine. Sending them now.”

“You’re the best.”

Alex could hear Winn release an exaggerated sigh as they ended their call, making her smile.

Sitting the phone on the table, she reached a little further and grabbed her laptop to check out the files Winn had just sent.

After downloading the compressed file and unzipping it to her desktop, Alex was relieved to find there were only five bounty hunters who had worked FBI in the last twelve months.

  1. Butcher.
  2. Hammond.
  3. Sawyer.
  4. Wells.
  5. Zimmerman.



She started at the top, quickly going through the folders containing background and case information. F. (Faith) Butcher, did not have a picture but had spent most of her life in Italy, so she was sure she could skip over that one. J. Hammond turned out to be Jeff Hammond. _Unlikely_. Alex backed out of Jeff’s folder and was about to click on M. Sawyer, when she remembered that the woman had introduced herself as Megan Sailor. Her heart started to pound unrelentingly as she held her breath and clicked.

_Maggie Sawyer._

_28-years-old._

_Born in Blue Springs, Nebraska._

_Attended Gotham University on a full scholarship for Criminology until dropping out her senior year._

_Accomplishments include: bagging two international crime lords, a murderer, and cyberterrorists._

 

Alex was impressed. 28-years-old and busting big, bad guys all by her lonesome. _Damn_. Impressed might not even cover it. All she had wanted to know was the woman’s name, but now that she had more, she felt some part of herself more nourished, not even having realized she’d needed it in the first place.

 _Maggie._ Alex closed her computer and placed it back on the coffee table, then fell back onto the couch, smirking, and starry-eyed, and lovesick.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

Her state only briefly crossed her mind before turning her head back to the table and grabbing her phone.

“Danvers…”

“Wile E.” _Maggie_ , she silently hummed while smirking, not letting her secret slip.

 

**Maggie**

As soon as Maggie realized the phone that Alex had given her was ringing again, she sped across her apartment to grab her other phone to text Oracle.

**_To Oracle:_ ** _Active phone call with target on 949.647.0789._

“I can’t wait to wipe that smirk off your face.”

“How do you know I’m smirking?”

“When are you not?”

“So, how will you do it?”

“Wipe the smirk off your face?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Gee, Danvers, a girl has got to have some secrets.”

…

“So was there any specific reason you were calling or did you just miss the sound of my voice?”

“A little bit of both, actually. I can’t seem to stop thinking of you.”

Maggie flushed.

...

“I was hoping you might convince me that _this_ , that _you and I_ —that _we’re_ —a bad idea.”

“And ruin my advantage? Fat chance.”

“It’s not an advantage if you’re on level footing.”

“Are you implying that I have a thing for you too?”

“Of course I am. I’m sure you haven’t been able to stop thinking of me either.”

“Well, that’s because you’re my target.”

“And I bet you can’t wait to nail me, Sawyer.”

Maggie flushed again as the line went dead. She tried to brush it off, but then an incoming message came in.

**_From Oracle_ ** _: Encryption broken. You can now triangulate her location._

Maggie smiled hard, her dimples deviously peaking from her cheeks.

_Wait._

_Did she just call me Sawyer?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos, comments, & feedback welcome!
> 
> Tumblr: @goldengarbagegirls


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winn catches Alex on the phone with Maggie. (This chapter is only Alex and Winn--no Maggie--though Winn's contact does make an appearance.)

**Winn**

Winn sat at a two-person table, facing the entrance of his favorite Chinatown coffee shop and bakery, just like Alex had taught him. When he and Alex started working together, _in the current context_ , she had refused to let him out of the loft alone much to his dissatisfaction. After nearly a year of begging, Alex had finally given in and started to train him: on how to throw his weight around, how to defend himself, how to know when someone was following him, etc., but mostly she taught him how to be aware of his surroundings so that he could anticipate what was to come.

What Alex hadn’t taught him was disguise. He asked her specifically to train him in the art of masquerade when she first agreed to teach him, but she had said that disguises weren’t always readily available—that it was better for him to learn to blend in without a disguise than with one. Winn was not convinced.

As Winn waited for his contact to show, the barista, Huan, brought him his cappuccino, smiling at she set it down on the table. Unfortunately, no matter how the hacker disguised himself—this time in a hipster hat, sunglasses, stick-on mustache, and a cloth poncho/sandals combo—Huan always saw right through his deliberate personas. It was kind of sad, especially given that the one time he’d gone in to the shop for coffee without a disguise, she hadn’t immediately recognized him. Instead, she glanced over him until she’d realized, greeting him like an afterthought.

“Here you go, Winn…”

Winn tensed and started to look around to make sure no one was staring. No one had been, and surprisingly so considering how ridiculous he looked.

“Shhh, Huan. I’m not Winn—I’m Paolo.”

Huan laughed, tickled by the man-boy.

“No, no, Winn. You are a very, very silly man.”

Winn rolled his eyes as Huan walked away and the door dinged. It was his contact. She made her way over to the table.

“Paolo?”

“Yes… yes… Ms. Uhhh…”

Winn fumbled—they hadn’t given her a fake name.

“Winn, just call me Ms. Zor- Zorel…”

“Right. Ms. Zorel. Would you like a coffee?”

“No, thank you… I only have a few minutes.”

“Fair enough. How is everything?”

“In one word, which is all we have time for… fine. How is Alex?”

“…Fine."

“Okay… well, I got the meeting she asked for. Ms. Grant will be at the Monticello hotel in room 1045 at 8:00 pm.”

Winn looked at his watch and inhaled sharply.

“That’s great, though short notice. I should get going and let Alex know.”

“Yeah… “

Winn got up from his seat and took one more sip from his cappuccino before turning for the door.

“Hey, Winn…”

Winn looked over his shoulder at the younger Danvers sister.

“I really miss you guys.”

Winn felt his lips curl up, genuinely warmed by the thought.

“We miss you too, Kar.”

 

**Alex**

Alex heard the door to the loft open, then leaned up off the couch to meet eyes with Winn, who, to the thief’s dismay, was back from his meetup sooner than she had anticipated.

Alex pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, then let herself onto collapse back down onto the couch, continuing her conversation despite the lecture to come.

_“Of course I am. I’m sure you haven’t been able to stop thinking of me either.”_

Winn walked over and looked down at Alex curiously. He mouthed _who is that_ and she smiled briefly before waving him off, her humble plea that he let it go. _Not a chance, but worth a shot._

_“And I bet you can’t wait to nail me, Sawyer.”_

Alex hurriedly hung up the phone as Winn paused with his mouth hanging open, nearly fallen to the floor.

“Al, what the hell? … _Sawyer_? You were just talking to _Maggie Sawyer_?”

“Pardon the irony, but isn’t pointless to ask questions you already know the answer to?”

“Is the irony to which you’re referring that of your last sentence or the fact that for some reason, you—prey—can’t seem to help but seek out your predator?”

“I don’t think it’s ironic, Alanis.”

“Um. It is. And so, I repeat: what the hell? What could be so important that you need to call up and chat with someone who is _literally_ hunting you?”

“Who says I’m not hunting her? That would be more ironic, right? The hunter being hunted?”

“Damn it, Alex. Don’t change the subject. This is serious. This mission is more important than whatever game you’re playing with this girl.”

Alex adjusted, sitting up on the couch as Winn walked around to sit with her.

“Right. I’m sorry. It’s just… I’m drawn to her for some reason.”

Winn huffed, shaking his head.

“Listen, Alex, I get lonely too. It’s understandable to want to have a connection with someone, especially in our line of work. Dating feels impossible. I mean, how can we bring anyone into this? That’s the appeal of Maggie, right? That she’s already got a foot into all of this, though I have seen her picture and it’s clear she’s an attractive woman, but let’s be real—you have one-night stands with attractive women all the time. So yeah, she seems different, but the problem is that while she does have her foot into all of this, she wants nothing more than to turn you into the FBI. And that can’t happen, Alex. We’ve got a mission and we’re _so damn close_. This girl is trouble; she’s a distraction. There will be other girls, of which I’m sure you’ll have your pick once this is all over.”

Alex mulled over Winn’s words as she stared at her pale feet in contrast with the dark green shag rug beneath them. Winn was right. What they were doing was important, more important than any personal needs or desires. Giving in would be unwise, to say the least. It would be an unwarranted risk that could blow the whole operation.

Yet Alex couldn’t help but think that silencing whatever it was that she felt for the dark-haired bounty hunter would be a mistake, that is, assuming she could silence it at all.

“Winn?”

…

“What if… what if there’s more to this girl than that? What if I said I think I’m falling for her?”

Winn’s eyebrows shot up unwillingly, clearly caught off guard.

“Um, first I’d say who are you and what have you done with Alex Danvers?”

Alex’s brow furrowed as she frowned, head still fixed on the floor.

“Winn, I’m serious… This one feels different. I… I just… I could have slept with her in Louisville but chose not to. _That’s…_ never happened.”

“Wow, okay… Well, first off, that shows personal growth… so good for you. Second, do you think she feels the same?”

“I don’t know. The thing is, I know you’re right. She’s too big of a risk and I need to just… push my feelings down. But at the same time, I’ve never felt anything close to this. What if this is the universe’s way of saying I finally deserve love, and that I can have it? What if I push down these feelings and the universe takes it all back? How would I live with myself for letting it go? And I know this doesn’t make any sense. Logic eludes me, it’s like it’s floating around over my head, close but just out of reach… It’s like, on one hand I don’t feel at all like myself, but on the other, there’s this part of me I was never aware of and for the first time in my life I feel whole, like I’ve always existed in fragments until now.”

Winn gaped at her wide-eyed and concerned, pausing to let the reality of the situation take hold.

“Shit, Alex. This is _really_ bad news.”

“I know. I… I didn’t mean for this to happen…”

“Are you sure she didn’t put a spell on you? Didn’t hit you with some kind of love potion?”

“Winn.”

“Okay, yeah. I was just making sure.”

“What do I do?”

Winn looked down in contemplation and Alex knew he was trying to make sense of something he could not fully understand. If she was being honest, she was right there with him. She was falling for a woman she knew nothing about, someone who wanted nothing more than to see her locked up; however, falling for someone she shouldn’t didn’t change the fact that she was indeed falling. Something was burning deep within her, something she had no power to contain, something that would easily overtake her, with grace or without mercy.

“Truthfully, Alex? I have no idea what to tell you. I guess just keep your guard up. The mission comes first. Maybe once this is all over you and Maggie can give it a shot.”

“Yeah… maybe.” _Like I’d be so lucky._

“Listen, Alex, I really hate to end this conversation prematurely, but speaking of the mission… you have a meeting with Cat in a little over a half hour and you should be out the door in no more than five minutes.

“Right. Thanks, Winn.”

Alex got up off the couch and grabbed her gun to tuck into the back of her skinny jeans before throwing on her leather jacket. She started to walk towards the door as Winn spoke again.

“Al, I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, but please just try to focus on the mission and getting home safe?”

“Of course, I’ll be back soon,” Alex replied somberly as she exited the loft, her mind in perpetual tug of war between thoughts of Maggie and thoughts of the mission.

Descending the stairs, she bit her lip and tasted blood, the metallic on her tongue a reminder to keep her mind in check.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: Lucy and Cat make their first appearances. Alex tries to be all business, but a sticky situation (and seeing Maggie again) makes it tough for her to retain her resolve.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex goes to the hotel to see Cat. Lucy and Maggie meet.

**Alex**

Alex walked into the lobby of the hotel located at the address Winn had sent her. The décor was beautiful and extravagant and very Cat Grant: burgundy rugs that accented marble floors, golden curtains tied off to expose floor-to-ceiling windows, modern furniture in white leather or steel. The elevator itself was made entirely of glass and though Alex wasn’t afraid of anything, she couldn’t help but look up as the elevator took her to the tenth floor, the sinking feeling in her gut purely nerves and _totally not some hypothetical fear of heights_.

One knock on the door to room 1045 was all it took for Cat Grant to open the door, grab Alex by the sleeve of her leather jacket, and pull her inside before immediately slamming the thief against the door before it was even fully shut. As Cat pushed against her, with her body and then her lips, surely leaving a trail of pink lipstick along Alex’s neck, Alex briefly thought of Maggie—what the bounty hunter might say if she saw Alex being hungrily devoured by the media mogul, how she might feel about it. She silently reprimanded herself, remembering her conversation with Winn. She was not supposed to be thinking about the woman hunting her. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about how Maggie’s beauty was so pure and effortless, or how she’s never seen eyes like Maggie’s, eyes that light up all the time for seemingly no reason at all. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about how, if given the chance, she would do things differently with Maggie, how she’d want to do things different with Maggie.

Alex bit her lip again and willed herself to get lost in sensations of familiar hands, in the simplicity and nature of her relationship with Cat. How easy it was to fall back into the rhythm they’d set so many times before.

When Cat swirled her tongue against Alex’s collarbone, the thief moaned, once again grounded in the moment. 

Alex grabbed Cat’s waist, spun her around, and pinned her against the door, her hands holding Cat’s wrists outstretched overhead. Alex smirked as she looked the mogul up and down, Cat’s breasts on nearly full display thanks to a low-cut frilly top, her skirt more miniature and less constricting than that of her regular pencil skirt. Alex leaned in and pressed her lips to Cat’s, then grabbed the woman by the backs of her thighs, pulling them up and around her waist before turning and carrying the mogul to the bed.

Without warning, Alex threw the woman down onto the mattress and relished in Cat’s reaction, the mogul surprised but all the more turned on.

“Old habits die hard, Alex.”

“That they do, Ms. Grant.”

Alex crawled onto the bed and straddled the mogul, then leaned down to kiss her hungrily, Cat’s hands briefly sliding across Alex’s abdomen before moving up to grasp the lapels of Alex’s leather jacket. Cat pulled Alex further down into the kiss before releasing the thief's lips, pausing to speak.

“When Kara said you wanted to meet, I was a little surprised given that we haven’t spoken since you went underground and took up more _mischievous_ activities. I assume this meeting has less to do with you missing me and more to do with my connections.”

“An astute assumption, though it doesn’t mean we can’t have our fun.”

“Of course, but if I’m going to sell my soul, I’m going to need to know what I’m selling it for ahead of time.”

“Lex Luthor is hosting a fundraising gala in a couple of days and I need an invite.”

Cat scoffed, incredulously, as she stared up at Alex.

“And you’re hoping to, what? Be my date?”

“If you can get me in, Cat, I’ll be whatever you want me to be.”

 

**Lucy**

Lucy Lane and Alex Danvers had a complicated past, and in turn a complicated relationship.

Not just complicated as in, _yeah, I used to date one of the FBI’s most wanted_ and _yes, I am a major with the United States Army_ , but complicated in that they were so much more than any one phase of their relationship.

Alex was the first friend that Lucy made when her family moved to Midvale her sophomore year of high school. Alex was Lucy’s first _best_ friend, period.

As it turned out, Alex was many of Lucy’s firsts:

Alex was Lucy’s first roommate. They chose the same college to go to specifically because they wanted to live with one another. Because that’s what best friends want, right? To be around one another non-stop, to snuggle up on the couch together, to hold hands, to sleep in the same bed.

Well, maybe sometimes. Who was she to judge? But in her and Alex’s case, it was more than that.

Because Alex was also the first girl Lucy kissed. And her first love. And her first fiancée. And the first _and last_ person to break her heart.

It was four years ago that it happened. After dating on-and-off for three years and living together for a year and a half, Lucy had been offered a job in Washington, DC, and asked Alex to move with her but the older Danvers sister declined, saying she couldn’t leave her own job. It felt like a slap in the face, like Alex was saying that her job was more important to her than her own girlfriend.

But then Alex proposed, telling the major that if she let her go she’d never forgive herself. Lucy said yes despite her gut telling her it was a mistake, but she was happier dreaming of the future Alex promised than she was in those minutes when doubt crept into her chest, a twinge of the misery to come.

No more than a month after Lucy said yes had Alex inexplicably broken their engagement. Six months after that, Alex Danvers was gone for good, never to be seen or heard from again.

That is until two nights ago, when Lucy arrived home to find the woman sitting on her couch in the dark.

It was a moment she thought about often over the last four years: seeing Alex again. Seeing how kind or unkind the years had been to her, seeing her in the context of who she had become versus who she had once been.

Yet seeing her sitting there, she was nothing like Lucy had pictured. She wasn’t hard, or worn, or aged. She was just Alex. _Her_ Alex.

And even though she wanted nothing more than to tell the woman to get the fuck out of her house, her curiosity got the better of her.

“Why are you here?”

“I’m in town for business.”

“So you thought you’d drop by?”

“Luc, is that really so hard to believe?”

“You tell me. You’re the criminal. It’s not like I know you anymore.”

“Of course you know me, Luc. I’m still the same woman I’ve always been.”

“Alex, what are you doing here?”

“Believe it or not, I really do miss you.”

“How fair of you to show up after four years and drop that one me.”

“I know it’s not, but there’s a lot you don’t understand.”

“So then why don’t you do me a favor and explain it?”

“I will. One day, but not today.”

“Great, please show yourself out.”

“Luc…”

“I mean it, Danvers. Get out. Don’t come back until you’re ready to fill me in.”

Lucy’s brow furrowed. She closed her eyes and waited for Alex to leave. Seconds later she felt warm lips on her cheek shortly thereafter replaced with a cold void. The door squeaked open as Alex was leaving and still she could not bear to open her eyes.

“The guy in all the pictures… he’s your boyfriend, right?”

…

“He looks like a good one... I’m happy for you, Luc. Really. You deserve the best of everything.”

After she heard the door shut, Lucy cautiously opened her eyes. Once she was sure Alex was gone, she trudged over to the couch and collapsed until an hour later, when she was no longer felt haunted by the ghost of her past.

It wasn’t until she took herself upstairs and started to get ready for bed when she’d realized she’d been duped. Alex didn’t visit because she missed the major. She visited to steal the major’s CAC badge.

So as Lucy rounded the corner to the room in which Alex’s phone was traced, she smiled.

After all the woman had put her through, damn if she wasn’t going to enjoy this.

The only problem was that someone was already there, standing tentatively outside the door, looking as if she was unsure of whether to knock or barge in.

Lucy creeped up on the woman, gun in hand.

“And who might you be?”

The dark-haired woman jerked at the feeling of the shaft of Lucy’s gun pressed into her lower back. She held her hands up, answering Lucy in a whisper.

“Why don’t you put that thing down and find out?”

“What’s your business with Danvers?”

“Are you her body guard?”

“No. Are you?”

“If I were then you wouldn’t have your gun buried into my back.”

“You'd have my gun buried in your back regardless. So, tell me, who are you?”

“Whatever you say. I'm a bounty hunter. Your turn, sunshine.”

Lucy withdrew her gun from the woman’s back and held it down to her side as the dark-haired woman turned around.

“Major Lucy Lane, U.S. Army.”

...

“And your name?”

“Sawyer. Maggie.”

“All right, Sawyer. I’m assuming you’re here to collect Danvers then?”

“That would be correct.”

“So the question is, then, are you going to help me or get in my way?”

“Let’s start with help and then go from there. Door in three?”

Lucy nodded. Maggie started to count.

“3… 2… 1…”

Lucy kicked the door in and both women rushed in with their guns drawn, only to find a half-naked Alex straddling a half-naked…

“Cat Grant?” Lucy’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, her gun still pointed straight ahead of her.

Maggie’s eyes grew wide with the realization, “wait, like the media mogul?”

**Maggie**

Ten seconds earlier, Maggie had been on the other side of the hotel room door, strong and confident and happy to finally put an end to the mystery of Alex Danvers. She and Lucy would kick the door down and take Alex by force if needed. There was no doubt in her mind they'd do what needed to be done to catch the elusive thief.

Twenty seconds later and her mouth hit the floor. Alex Danvers was topless and straddling the queen of media, who was also topless, the thief _blushing_ _bright red_. Maggie felt weird all the sudden. Her chest tightened and her stomach fell and her muscles tensed and it wasn’t because she was jealous or hurt because why would she be? Alex was only a target.

 

**Alex**

_Holy shit_ was the first thing that came to mind as the hotel room door burst open and her ex and current love interest came strolling in with wide eyes, processing the fact that _she_ , their mutual target, was straddling _the_ Cat Grant.

_Holy shit indeed._

Alex’s eyes hastily found Maggie’s. She tried to get a read on the woman, her questions from the half hour before no longer hypothetical.

“Maggie… it’s not what it looks like?”

…

 

**Cat**

Cat rarely felt uncomfortable. Even in situations where she should, she couldn’t bring herself to care. An unexpected intrusion? Getting caught with her pants down, or rather, skirt pushed up? Cool as a cucumber.

“Lucy Lane. Nice to see you.”

“And you, Ms. Grant. I didn’t realize you're acquainted with my ex,” Lucy said, jumping right to the point. Cat could appreciate that.

“Nor did I,” Cat replied, “I’m not surprised though. This one on top of me has good taste.”

Alex took that as her cue and climbed off Cat, though Cat was disappointed at the loss of contact. She crossed her arms over her chest half-heartedly. She didn’t care if the other women saw, she only went through the motions to follow the rules of social etiquette. That one may not have been written down per se, yet some things were just implied.

“You… Mag- or whatever… my shirt is beside your right foot.”

The dark-haired woman reached down and grabbed Cat’s shirt, then tossed it to the mogul, still draped across the bed. Lucy followed suit, finding Alex’s shirt and bra and tossing them to her before both women pulled their clothing back on.

“Well, Alex… Always a pleasure. We’ll have to do it again sometime, just, not at the fundraiser. I’m sure you understand that I have a reputation to uphold.”

Alex opened her mouth like she was about to say something but instead seemed to bite her tongue.

“Lucy, Mag- whatever. Don’t go too hard on her. Please don’t shoot her. Especially in this hotel room.”

Cat nodded at Alex as she exited, silently wishing her luck.

 

**Lucy**

“Now that Cat’s gone,” Lucy said, “we can get down to business.”

Lucy paused to look at Maggie. Maggie seemed different than the woman she had met earlier. Once she'd kicked the door in, the bounty hunter’s demeanor changed. It was odd, to say the least. The woman stood still, contemplative, existing in some other place remote to the hotel room where her feet were planted.

And then there was Alex’s face, solemn and vulnerable and confused. In all the years she had known Alex, she’d only seen the look twice: once when Kara got seriously hurt, and another when Jerimiah died.

No good would come of thinking of Alex like that. She would not allow the thief to take advantage of her compassion.

“You took something from the Army, Alex. I’m the calm before the storm. Return what you took or feel the brunt of it.”

"I don’t have it.”

“Bullshit, Alex. Please don’t make me torture you.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucy could see Maggie tense but paid her no mind. Lucy pulled out her gun and handcuffs, handing the latter to Maggie.

"Do what you have to do, Luc."

...

“Alright Danvers, get up and move to that chair,” she nodded to the desk chair on the other side of the room, “now.”

With Lucy’s gun fixated on her, Alex did as she was told.

“Good. Now, Maggie… cuff her.”

 

**Maggie**

Alex was full of surprises.

First, there was the whole straddling Cat Grant thing, which Maggie didn’t care about. Like, _at all._

Then there was the whole Cat/Lucy moment where Lucy admitted Alex was her ex. Not that Maggie cared about that either.

And yeah, maybe Lucy didn’t necessarily seem normal when she they met outside the door, but she didn’t seem crazy either. But that was before she threatened to torture Alex. That was before she had asked Maggie to handcuff the thief.

Maggie thought about it as she walked over to Alex, pulling the handcuffs open. Alex stole something she shouldn’t have. _From the Army_. Something like that probably warranted torture, but the thought made Maggie feel sick. 

When Maggie bent down to fasten the cuffs, her eyes searched Alex's mindlessly, without reason. No question was posed and yet she saw the thief’s answer. _Don’t worry. Just do as she says. It'll be okay._

The cuffs clicked and Maggie backed away.

“Alex... tell me where it is.”

...

Silence.

...

“You have ten seconds.”

...

Maggie counted down silently, pleading internally that Alex would answer.

...

She didn’t.

The bounty hunter glanced over to Lucy, who suddenly withdrew a knife from her belt and plunged it into Alex’s thigh without hesitation or warning.

Maggie’s heart dropped as Alex screamed.

After that, everything got a little fuzzy.

Lucy kept talking and Alex stayed silent for the most part, only wincing or screaming. Then Lucy would get impatient and push down on Alex’s wound until the woman was howling. It happened repeatedly until Maggie couldn’t take it anymore, her body making a decision and before she knew it, she had withdrawn her own gun and hit Lucy over the head, knocking the major unconscious.

Maggie rushed over to Alex, quickly unlocking the handcuffs, pausing to brush the sweat-and-tear-drenched hair out of Alex’s eyes. The woman was conscious but clearly in a lot pain. Maggie's heart sank, seeing Alex like that. Beaten on and meek and torn apart. Maggie herself could barely keep it together.

“Alex, I know you’re hurting, but we need to get you out of here. I promise I’ll take you somewhere safe, okay?”

“Maggie… please don’t. Just go,” Alex begged, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

“I promise I’ll keep you safe. I won’t take you to the FBI, okay? Please, just let me pick you up and carry you out of here.”

Alex bit her lip, quietly deliberating before eventually nodding in agreement.

Maggie scooped the thief into her arms, placing a soft kiss on Alex's cheek. 

On the way to the location Alex had given her, Alex passed out in the passenger's seat of Maggie's car. 

The drive was quiet, city sounds delivering white noise as a backdrop for her thoughts.

A week ago Maggie would have taken Alex to the FBI regardless of whatever she'd have to say to get the thief into her car.

Now all she could think about was wrapping the woman up in her arms to protect her from anyone or anything that wished to do her harm.

_Over my dead body._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get too excited to proof read. I'll do that later.
> 
> Next: Alex and Maggie end up at the loft. Winn almost has a heart attack when he finds the bounty hunter in his lair.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now injured, Alex's needs are graciously tended to.

**Winn**

Winn Schott had relatively thick skin considering his high-level nerd status. Sure, he was teased as a kid, especially given that he was a boy-genius, but the catalyst of his nature was the legacy his father left behind—a legacy he wanted nothing to do with.

It was one thing to be bullied because of height or lankiness or an above-average IQ. Winn made his peace with it after years tensing before being shoved into a locker or having his books pushed out of his hands. It had always ended the same: with him fearful and in tears and walking on eggshells. Eventually he had come to realize that accepting his fate, no matter how twisted it may be, was the better approach. At the very least it was a constant, providing comfort in repetition. That is, until his father sent a bomb to a rival toymaker, killing six people. Winn was eleven.

He was eleven when his father was arrested and given the death penalty.

He was eleven when he was placed in foster care.

He was eleven when his classmates stopped picking on him and started to fear him for the monster they believed him to be.

Winn was eleven when he vowed to never become that person, to never succumb to the darkness supposedly buried deep within him.

The following years were, most modestly put, difficult. Winn went from foster home to foster home, keeping his father a secret in hopes that people would accept him for him—the nerdy boy next door—instead of the son of a murderer. And though he was a genius, there were lessons missed during his teenage years, notches of fundamental development at the ill-mercy of whatever slum lord collecting government funding in exchange for providing him with minimal necessities. He was thus, without shame or guilt, a self-declared late bloomer, so it didn’t bother him when people referred to him as any variation of the term ‘man-boy’. He was mature enough to admit that in a lot of ways he was, still learning and developing despite his high IQ.

But he did dare to dream, no matter how dreary his past. While most other children had their heads in the clouds fantasizing of _things_ , Winn couldn’t help but dream of stability, of a new family. Stability and a family that he ultimately would come to find in Alex and Kara Danvers, of whom he’d be fiercely protective. They were his second-chance family and they were _precious,_ a familial bond that flourished despite conventional blood-ties.

Winn heard the door to the loft open as he sat at his computer doing recon in preparation for the next phase of his and Alex’s plan.

“Hey Alex,” Winn called out from behind the brick wall.

Silence lingered until supplanted with a groan. Winn could feel his heart drop as he got up and rushed around to the entryway.

“Alex?”

Winn looked around the room until he saw a head pop up from the other side of the couch, his eyes widening at the sight. It was not Alex’s gaze that met his own, but one of the nefarious bounty hunter. He calmed himself to the best of his ability before speaking, feigning an unwavering demeanor.

“You! Why are you here?”

“It’s Alex… she’s injured,” the bounty hunter said, eyes shifting downwards towards the vinyl cushions.

Winn squinted his eyes to read Maggie and after confirming no immediate threat, walked around to the other side of the couch where Alex lay sweating and bloody, then dove onto the floor beside his friend, tears welling behind his eyes.

“Oh my God… Oh no… What did you do to her? I’ll… you don’t know what I’ll do to you if she’s not okay…”

 “Winn… she told me that’s your name, right?”

The hacker nodded his head in confirmation without looking away from the thief’s still body.

“I will explain everything to you, but first we need to take care of Alex, okay?”

Winn nodded once more. He didn’t trust the bounty hunter but she had brought Alex to the loft instead of taking her to the bureau.

“Great. Now, do you have a first-aid kit, Winn? Painkillers?”

“I do… I’ll… I’ll grab them.”

Winn got up from the floor and jogged to the bathroom, opening a linen closet to grab the kit and meds. When he returned, Alex was coming to again while Maggie was speaking to her in a comforting voice.

“Hey you… listen, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we need to treat that leg of yours,” Maggie said as she gestured to Alex’s jeans.

“You trying to get into my pants, Sawyer?” Alex groggily retorted.

“I’m trying to get you out of them… _for medical purposes only_ ,” Maggie smiled as she brushed a strand of hair behind the thief’s ear.

“Gag,” Winn piped as he walked over and handed Maggie the first-aid kit and the painkillers to Alex.

“Winn! What are these?”

“Hey there, badass. No questions—open and swallow.”

Alex rolled her eyes before finally submitting to Winn’s request.

“Who stabbed you? Was it this… this person?” Winn asked, frowning as he gestured to Maggie.

“No, no… this _gift_ was courtesy of the ever-pleasant Lucy Lane.”

“Damn. That’s some vendetta.”

“Well, I probably deserved it, considering…”

“Guys, I hate to interrupt, _especially_ because you’re talking about one of Alex’s ex-girlfriends,” Maggie said, “but we need to get these pants off her to tend to her wound.”

“Oh, uh? Should I be here for that?”

“If you want to minimize her pain, yes, I’ll need your help,” Maggie replied.

“Winn, it’s okay. Don’t feel weird,” Alex added.

“Yeah, well… I always do. Let’s get this over with.”

**Maggie**

“Okay, so how do we do this?” Winn asked.

“Uh, I think one of us should hold her up from under her arms while the other shimmy her pants down…” Maggie could feel herself blushing at the suggestion, and though she did her best to play it cool, the smirk on Alex’s face caused more heat to rise to her cheeks.

“Oh! I call holding!” Winn blurted as he circled around to the head of the couch.

Maggie sighed, feeling Alex’s smirk grow wider though she dared not look.

“Okay, on three. 3… 2… 1…”

As Winn lifted, Maggie quickly unbuttoned Alex’s jeans then curled her fingers under the waistline and pulled them down, while Alex unabashedly bit her bottom lip suggestively. It wasn’t until the fabric slid across Alex’s wound that the thief hissed and winced at the burn, and though injuries weren’t something Maggie would typically find herself smiling at, she couldn’t help it in that moment. The woman was an opportunist, enjoying the act as if it were intimate in _another_ context. A little burn to quell her deviance served her right.

Once Alex’s jeans were off and tossed aside, Maggie couldn’t help but gaze over the length of the thief’s slim, tone legs. She coughed in hopes of concealing her appreciation, but it did not fall go unnoticed—Alex’s infamous smug grin grew wide with satisfaction.

Maggie cleared her throat again, then pressed on, taking a closer look at the wound.

“Damn, Alex… this isn’t good. Lucy’s knife looks to have been about two and a half inches wide. We need to get you to a hospital… you’ll need stitches at the very least.”

Alex sat up to examine the wound herself, sighing at the sight.

“No hospitals. We’re going to have to take care of it ourselves.”

“Al, I don’t think that’s a great idea… can’t we call—“

Alex spoke up quickly to cut Winn off.

“No! We handle this ourselves. I know I’m a bit loopy because of the drugs, but I went to medical school. I am a doctor… I can handle a few stitches.”

Maggie’s mouth fell open in surprise. Alex Danvers was also a doctor, in addition to everything else; yet, if the thief was a doctor, why was there no record of Alex attending medical school?

“Right. Of course, you are…” Maggie pressed, “You sure you got this, Danvers?”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. Clearly Maggie had struck a nerve.

“I wouldn’t say so if I couldn’t, Sawyer. Now, how about you make yourself useful and pass me that first-aid kit.”

Maggie smiled and handed the kit to Alex, who grabbed it and zipped it open it to search for suturing tools. The thief pulled them out one at a time before putting on plastic gloves, then opened each sterilized case to remove the tools.

“Al, I don’t want to leave you alone… with her… but you know I can’t watch this,” Winn said, as Alex continued to prepare to close her wound.

Maggie sighed. _You’re not the only one, kid._

“Winn, I’ll be fine. Go in the other room and distract yourself for a few minutes.”

“Thank you, so, so, so much,” Winn exclaimed as he backed out of the room bowing.

As Alex started, Maggie’s stomach wrenched at what was about to happen, as it always did when wounds were sutured. Maggie thought it was peculiar that she could see a knife driven into someone without getting sick, _but seeing a needle weave in and out of lacerations_? _No thanks._ It made her feel nauseated; yet, regardless of her stomach’s reaction Maggie found herself unable to look away. She bit down hard on the sides of her cheeks as Alex administered the local anesthetic and then cleaned the wound. By the time the thief started to thread the needle, she tasted blood.

Finally, Maggie convinced herself to look away when Alex began to suture, starting at the center of the wound and working outwards. Without looking up, the thief spoke.

“How is it that I, medicated and stitching my own wound, seem to be taking this better than you Sawyer?”

“Perhaps the medicated part has something to do with it.”

“I wouldn’t have taken you to have a weak stomach…”

“Pfft. Me? I see this stuff all the time. I’m fine.”

“Mhmm… Well, you know, Pablo Casals was one of the greatest cellists of all time, and even though he performed thousands of concerts, he was never able to shake his stage fright. Good thing you’re not a doctor.”

Maggie turned and tilted her head, smiling at Alex.

“I’m starting to think you’re a walking encyclopedia, Danvers.”

“I wouldn’t say that my knowledge is _that_ extensive,” Alex replied smirking. “…And, all done. Care to help me bandage?”

Maggie feigned surprise, raising her eyebrows.

“You mean to tell me you can’t handle a bit of gauze? I thought you were a doctor!”

Alex smiled as she carefully removed the gloves covered in dried blood.

“Well, when you put it that way,” she retorted before raising her voice, “Winn, give me a minute to bandage my leg then you’re in the clear.”

A few minutes later, Alex was done and Winn had returned to continue throwing shade at Maggie.

“Okay, so now that I’m all patched up, I think I’m going to go to sleep. I lost quite a bit of blood.”

“Right. Well, I should get out of here then,” Maggie said, disappointed.

“That sounds great—“ Winn started before Alex cut him off.

“Actually, I was hoping you’d stay. In my current state, Winn is going to have to carry out the next phase of our mission on his own and I could use your help.”

Maggie looked to Winn as the realization started to wash over him.

“Oh shit. You’re right,” Winn replied.

“Uh. I guess I can stay. For how long?”

“A couple of days, tops!”

“Okay, well, I suppose Winn and I will hash out the details while you sleep. Sound good?”

“Yeah, just help me to bed first?”

Maggie looked down and sighed, a small smirk on her face. _This woman and her nerve._

“Fine, Danvers, but keep your hands where I can see them. No funny business.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it…”

Maggie grinned at Alex’s poorly-feigned innocence, then scooped the woman into her arms to carry her to the bedroom.

“Don’t you go making promises you can’t keep, Danvers.”

 

**Winn**

Seconds after taking Alex to bed, _in the non-sexual way_ , Maggie reappeared in the hybrid ops living area. There, Winn waited to speak his piece.

“No _funny business_ then?”

“I’m not the one you have to worry about.”

“Oh, I beg to differ. I’ll bet you just want to hit it then… commit it… to FBI custody. So, I worry plenty!”

“Listen, Winn, I’m not going to lie to you. I do feel conflicted. I’m completely missing my objective here.”

“So, what’s in it for you? You got your in now and all you have to do is wait.”

“That’s not the first thing that comes to mind.”

“Uh? Okay. Well, I’m leaving you in her hands for now, but when I get back, in two days _at most_ , she better be here and in one piece, or I will tear you apart. You hear me?”

“Whatever you say,” Maggie said smiling.

“Hey! Be threatened! I’m serious here.”

“Quivering in my boots.”

“Sarcasm isn’t very becoming of you, Sawyer.”

“Relax. She’ll be in one piece.”

“She better! You have no idea what I’m capable of!”

“Winn?”

The hacker looked at Maggie quizzically.

“Get the hell out of here before I change my mind.”

“Oh. Yeah. Okay. Fine!”

 

**Maggie**

After Winn left Maggie to her own devices, she had briefly considered trying to access Winn’s computer for more information regarding what the criminal duo were up to. It was likely locked down with the latest cybersecurity safeguards of which she would need Oracle’s help to bypass. The only problem was that Winn surely bugged the place before leaving. Even though she was confident that Oracle could bypass those controls by placing a fake video feed or signal-jamming, Maggie decided against it. She would be alone with Alex for two days, maybe Alex would slip up, especially while heavily medicated.

While Alex rested, Maggie got up and explored the refrigerator. It was impressively well-stocked. Maggie starting pulling ingredients; someone had to make dinner.

 

**Alex**

Alex awoke, painfully, to the delightful smell of food. As she adjusted herself, in hopes of carrying herself towards the kitchen, her wound throbbed, stinging with the movement. Alex found herself unable to suppress her howl.

“Alex?” Maggie called out as she rushed into the room.

Alex looked up to meet Maggie’s eyes while keeping her hands at her wound.

“What are you doing moving so much? You almost gave me a heart attack.”

“I needed to find out what that smell is,” Alex replied, smiling, happy to know Maggie cared enough to come rushing in to check on her.

“Smell?”

“Yes… the food…”

As realization dawned on Maggie, she chuckled. _Chuckled._ It was the cutest sound Alex had ever heard.

“How about you lay back down and I’ll bring the food to you?”

“I’d rather eat at the table with you…”

“You, Dr. Danvers, are a hypocrite. You know you should be on bed rest.”

“I don’t like being locked up, alone...”

Alex watched as Maggie’s face fell. The thief didn’t mean to say it that way. It wasn’t some statement about their bittersweet predicament. It was a stated to be true in the moment, though unwittingly it was true outside of the moment as well.

Maggie snapped out of it quickly, clearly willing herself to do so to tame the vulnerability that washed over her.

“What if I have dinner in here too, with you, on the bed?”

“Then I’ll humbly stay put.”

“Deal. I’ll be right back.”

Moments later, Maggie had returned with two plates, handing one to Alex as she crawled into the bed beside the thief.

“Maggie, is this pot pie made from scratch? How did you make this?”

“Your fridge is well stocked. I figured you or Winn must like to cook with a fridge like that?”

“Winn always buys the food but we rarely eat it. He gets mad at me for ordering take out all the time and letting the food in the refrigerator go bad.”

“He’s not wrong…”

“To be honest, he thinks it goes bad. I always tell him I throw it away but in secret I take it to the homeless shelter down the street before any of it spoils.”

Maggie tilted her head, giving Alex her full-dimpled smile that made Alex inhale in and hold her breath.

“You’re full of surprises, Danvers.”

Alex smiled, overcome by warmth.

“As are you, you know. I feel like you should have a hybrid cooking bounty hunting reality show.”

“I’m flattered you think I’m such a good cook, especially given that you’ve yet to try a bite.”

“Right,” Alex replied, with a flushed smirk.

The thief made quick work of the food in front of her before raising her fork to her mouth.

_Holy shit. Omg. Heaven._

Her mouth watered, mind blanking at the taste before muttering the first thing that came to mind.

“ _I love you_.”

They both temporarily tensed at the words, both of their eyes widening.

“Gee, Danvers, I’ll bet you say that to all the girls.”

…

“Or were you talking to the pie?”

Alex flushed again. Around Maggie she lost control, lost her chill.

“No…”

“No, you weren’t talking to your pie?”

“No… I don’t say that to girls.”

“Wait, you mean you’ve never said that to a girl?”

“I have. Just once. I don’t think I meant it like that though.”

“Lucy?”

Alex looked down, playing with her food.

“Yeah.”

“What happened? Why is she so pissed at you? Besides you stealing something from her?”

“Long story short? I proposed, she said yes, I broke it off a couple weeks later then disappeared for four years.”

“Wow. Winn’s right, that’s some vendetta.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame her for plunging a knife into my leg.”

“But you didn’t love her? So why did you propose?”

“Because she was my best friend and I didn’t want to lose her.”

“But you lost her anyway.”

“Yeah.”

Not knowing what to say, neither of them spoke as they finished their dinner. When Maggie got up, she reached for Alex’s plate and Alex handed it to her, shifting her weight to her sore leg. She hissed, then grabbed at her wound one more. Maggie sat the plates on the nightstand, then pushed the blanket covering Alex aside to look at the blood-drenched dressing.

“Guess we’ll need to change your bandage, huh?”

“You’ll help this time?”

“Well you’re not drugged this time, so yeah. It’s probably going to hurt like a bitch. I’m going to drop the dishes in the sink and then I’ll grab the first-aid kit, okay?”

Alex nodded as Maggie got up to leave the room. She could hear Maggie quickly cleaning the kitchen and running the dishwasher before hurrying back.

“Sorry...” she said as she returned, “I can’t handle a dirty kitchen.”

“No problem… I mean, my leg isn’t going anywhere.”

Maggie smiled, sliding on plastic gloves. Alex’s heart fluttered as she watched Maggie work: undoing the blood-soaked bandages, cleaning the laceration, applying clean bandages over the wound. Her admiration for the woman did not go unnoticed.

“What’s that look for, Danvers?”

“Just thinking about how you abandoned your moral compass to help a lowly thief like me.”

“Let’s just call it a temporary truce,” Maggie smiled without looking away from her task.

“Somehow, I think it’s more than that…”

“Of course you do. You are pretty full of yourself.”

“Only when I know my charms are working,” Alex grinned, beaming as Maggie huffed.

Silence crept between them once more as Maggie finished and Alex’s chest tightened, not looking forward to the loss of contact.

“And all done…” Maggie said, before Alex hissed.

“What’s wrong? Did I hurt you?”

“No, no… I just… right above where you were working… it’s painful.”

Maggie moved her hand up Alex’s thigh.

“Here?” she asked.

Alex bit her lip and furrowed her brow.

“Higher.”

Maggie’s hand slid further up and Alex shuddered, giving herself away; however, to her delight, Maggie did not remove her hand.

“Here?” the bounty hunter asked again, a wicked look growing in her eye.

Alex shook her head, feigning desperation.

“Higher.”

Maggie slid her hand further up, her fingers so close to where Alex needed them to be. Alex grabbed Maggie’s face, fingers rubbing behind the bounty hunter’s ears before pulling her in. When their lips touched, Alex felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her body to her core. She moved her left hand, sliding it down Maggie’s body to the small of her back, taking a hold to pull the bounty hunter closer.

They breathlessly lost themselves in one another. Maggie’s hands reached up to tug at Alex’s shirt and moments later it was discarded to the floor. Alex’s fingers shakenly unbuttoned Maggie’s blouse, sliding the shirt over the woman’s tone shoulders as she had done the first time. She ran her hands over Maggie’s abdomen as her mouth worked on Maggie’s neck, licking and sucking and twirling her tongue until the shorted woman moaned. Maggie moved to unbutton her own pants and Alex’s fingers met Maggie’s to help. The woman lifted herself slightly off the bed as they worked together to slide her pants off her and to the floor.

Alex shifted, laying back onto her pillow so that Maggie could take the lead. It was rare that she was a bottom, but because of her injury her topping abilities were limited. Maggie shifted as well, holding herself above Alex and to the thief’s right side to avoid the woman’s injured thigh.

As Alex’s head lay on the pillow, Maggie stared down at her with sparkling eyes and Alex couldn’t quite believe was happening. She traced her fingers gently down Maggie’s sides, moving her fingers to Maggie’s lower back before running them up Maggie’s spine to her shoulders. Maggie closed her eyes, shivering at the tenderness of Alex’s movements. When the bounty hunter let out a tiny whimper, Alex couldn’t resist pulling her in again, into her lips. Maggie’s tongue found Alex’s as they kissed hungrily. Maggie’s hand ran up Alex’s side and then around her back. Alex lifted as Maggie moved her fingers to the thief’s bra clasp, snapping it apart in one go.

Maggie brought her hand back around to meet her other as she slid Alex’s bra straps down, breath hitching at the sight of Alex’s bare breasts. The look on the woman’s face as she took Alex in was incredible. Alex had never felt so beautiful before.

“Please don’t stop looking at me like that.”

“How am I looking at you?” Maggie’s brow furrowed, curiously.

“Like I’m not a thief and you’re not a bounty hunter.”

Maggie paused, pursing her lips in thought.

“You know this is a mistake, right?”

Alex looked up at Maggie, brushing strands of hair behind her ears.

“It doesn’t feel like a mistake to me. I know it’s not smart, but from what I’m told, love rarely is.”

Maggie sighed, her right hand moving to Alex’s cheek, her thumb sensually stroking her cheek bone.

“I want you,” Maggie said thoughtfully, quietly. Her eyes full of desire for the thief she shouldn’t have in the way she wanted her most.

Alex pulled her in again, sensually whispering into her ear.

“Then have me. I need you.”

 

**Maggie**

Maggie clenched at the words, heat flooding her center. She knew all of it, their relationship in this context, was a bad idea—one for the books. But she could not help herself. Below her lay a goddess begging to be touched and Maggie was only human.

Maggie pressed her lips into nape of Alex’s neck, pecking slowly but feverishly. A kiss would earn her a whimper; a swirl of her tongue would earn her a small sigh; gentle biting, a loud moan. Maggie worked her way down Alex’s body, switching between kissing and licking and biting. Maggie bit Alex’s shoulder, her clavicle, kissed the tops of her breasts down to her nipples, taking one into her mouth to softly suck. Alex moaned, moving her hands to Maggie’s head, weaving her fingers in the bounty hunter’s dark hair.

Maggie’s hand moved to Alex’s other nipple, teasing and pinching as her tongue flicked against the other.

“ _Please_ , _please touch me_.”

Maggie moved her hand down, tracing over Alex’s abdomen as her tongue continued to slide across Alex’s erect nipple. She moved her hands to Alex’s waistline, hooking her fingers under the thief’s panties, sliding them down.

“Can you spread your legs for me?”

Alex groaned at the request, moving her uninjured leg.

The bounty hunter moved her mouth to the other nipple, twirling her tongue around the hardened peak, then moved her hand to Alex’s core, gently sliding along Alex’s entrance.

“Wow…” Maggie said, with bated breath, “what a welcoming.”

Alex looked down to meet Maggie’s eyes and Maggie swore her heart stopped.

“You don’t know what you to do to me.”

“I think I have some idea, now.”

“No, it’s… so much more than that. I…”

Alex stuttered, forgetting she was in the middle of saying something when Maggie pushed inside of her.

“Is this good?”

“So, so good.”

Maggie started to pump slowly as she began her descent, kissing down Alex’s body slowly, teasing her with what was to come.

“ _Maggie.”_

The bounty hunter looked up at Alex, head tilted back, erratically breathing, nipples hard. It was one of the most beautiful sights she’d ever seen. The woman was strong and capable and gorgeous and seeing her barely holding herself together under Maggie’s touch was something that made Maggie wild.

Maggie kissed both thighs before leaning in to place her mouth on Alex’s core. Alex tensed at the contact before sinking into it, before raising her hips to Maggie’s tongue. Maggie continued moving in and out of Alex, slowly reaching the thief’s depths before pulling out again. She could feel Alex clench around her fingers, thrusting with the movements. Maggie flicked her tongue against Alex’s clit, then took it in her mouth to delicately suck. Alex gasped, all the sudden of the cusp of orgasm, and Maggie couldn’t keep herself from moaning.

“Maggie… _Can you_ …”

Maggie paused for a second, worried she did something wrong, though she was sure Alex was into it. She had never felt anyone so wet before. She herself had never been so wet before.

“Is everything okay? Do you want me to stop?”

“No. _God no_. I just, I want you back up here, with me. I want to look at you when I come.”

 _Scratch that_ , Maggie thought, as she felt more moisture flooding her core.

Maggie climbed back up, keeping her fingers buried inside of Alex, still steadily thrusting in and out of her. As she resumed her former position, above Alex and to her side, she felt Alex’s hands move around to her back, her nails digging into the bounty hunter’s skin before her fingers moved to unhook her bra. Seconds later, Alex was sucking her nipple, greedily and hungrily and Maggie could barely stay on rhythm as she continued penetrating Alex.

“I thought you said you want to look at me when you come?” Maggie breathlessly questioned.

Alex hummed into Maggie’s nipple as she skimmed her hand down Maggie’s abdomen and into Maggie’s panties before sliding one finger into the bounty hunter.

“ _Fuck, Alex._ ”

“I want us both to come. I want us to look at one another while we come at the same time.”

Alex added a second finger and Maggie clenched.

“You’re so beautiful, Maggie.”

Maggie moaned at the confession, focusing on synchronizing their rhythms as they thrust in and out of one another.

She nearly screamed when she felt Alex’s thumb on her clit.

“I can’t wait to see you come, Maggie.”

Maggie sped up her ministrations and Alex moaned loudly. She dug her teeth into Alex’s jaw as the woman tensed, as she herself tensed.

“Oh Maggie… _I’m so fucking close_.”

“Come for me, baby.” Maggie choked out, catching herself and Alex by surprise, but closer to falling into ecstasy.

“Look at me, Mags?”

Maggie lifted her head, opening her eyes to meet Alex’s, immediately coming undone at the convergence. Their hands tightened, curling up inside each other as the throbbing built them to a climax they surrendered to together, both women seeing white. Chests heaving and skin glistening with sweat, they collapsed onto the bed, in the other’s arms.

As Maggie felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, she couldn’t help but think about how being with Alex, sleeping with her, and _loving_ her was absolutely, positively, undeniably not a mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of touched smut before but fully committed this time. Thoughts?
> 
> Also, longest chapter yet! Stamina is building. Ha.
> 
> Next: Winn gets back early.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter BUT, all Alex & Maggie fluff/smut.

**Alex**

The sun gleamed in beyond the white, flowy curtains of Alex’s bedroom window, dancing across sleeping, tangled bodies. As light flickered in flashes and streams behind Alex’s eyelids, she stirred on her side to the touch of a warm body pressed sweetly against her own, eyes fluttering open to find the still, effortless grace of _her_ beautiful bounty hunter. Alex cursed her fleeting breath, caught in her throat, because Maggie was flowers and springtime and meadows and sunshine and, Alex was _certain_ , the most heavenly creature the world had ever seen.

Alex moved her hands underneath the sheet to find the bare of Maggie’s back, delicately tracing her fingertips across the bounty hunter’s soft dimensions. She had every intention of letting Maggie sleep; however, Alex’s willpower was stunted in Maggie’s presence, her body moved without input from her mind. Her fingers traced up Maggie’s spine, along and underneath her shoulder blades, and from the back of her neck to her hairline before descending once more, circling every freckle and beauty mark in their path.

Maggie’s back stiffened as she gasped awake, while Alex held her breath and stopped her movements, sick with worry that things were about to change.

She searched the silence for words, but they did not come. She felt her throat closing around her tongue, numb and sinking, sure that in minutes she would choke on it. How would she continue to breathe if the woman next to her didn’t feel the earth move every time they touched? How could she continue to exist if the woman next to her didn’t feel their connection, the gravity pulling them together as if they were both born of the same star?

Survival: Alex was an expert survivalist. She’d survived beatings, and stabbings, and bullets; hostage situations in which she lived days with minimal food and water; poisonous alien tusks and metahuman antics. She’d survived her father’s death, her mother’s tough love, her sister’s superiority. She’d survived high school, and weddings, and coming out. But despite all her success, she somehow couldn’t see any way she’d ever survive Maggie not loving her.

And it was ridiculous, right? Alex Danvers, the woman who had never been in love, the woman who had never wanted to be in love, was _now_ completely _head-over-heels, throw-up-in-your-mouth in love_ with a beautiful stranger she’d only met a few days before.

Alex Danvers _the player_ , was _now_ Alex Danvers _the god-I-must-become-a-poet-because-even-though-words-cannot-capture-her-beauty-it-would-be-a-disservice-to-humanity-if-I-didn’t-try_ romantic.

It was like she spent her whole life living in a world shaded in black and white until Maggie came along and painted vivid, vibrant colors across the sky.

Now flowers bloomed in pastels; the world was washed in watercolor. There was warmth in Alex’s chest where there was only cold before, and if she’d ever been sure of anything it was that she _could not_ and _would not_ go back to the dull grayscale that was her life before Maggie.

Maggie shifted slightly as she whispered, low and raspy, breaking the silence and pulling Alex out of her transient thoughts.

“Please don’t stop…”

Alex’s heart swelled and her muscles relaxed, once again moving her fingertips over Maggie’s smooth skin before leaning in to place tender kisses across the bounty hunter’s back. Maggie let out quiet, sleepy gasps as Alex’s lips and hands traversed her skin, her back arching when Alex caressed an especially sensitive area. As moisture started to build between her legs once more, she clenched her thighs together, forgetting her wound momentarily before wincing. Maggie started to turn before Alex caught her.

“I’m okay, I promise. I just… I forgot I was injured for a moment,” Alex whispered.

“You’re distracted…” Maggie commented, sleepiness still in her rasp.

“ _So, so_ distracted…” Alex said, deeply inhaling before continuing, “you are _undoubtedly_ the loveliest thing I have ever seen. I’m _so_ baffled by your beauty.”

Maggie’s breath drew in quickly. Alex moved in closer, ignoring the pain in her thigh as she pressed her front into Maggie’s back, running her fingers through the bounty hunter’s hair and kissing the top of her shoulder as she settled into Maggie’s warmth.

“Alex…” Maggie said quietly as Alex continued to stroke her hair behind her ear and along her neck, “where do we go from here?”

Alex inhaled slowly in consideration before replying, knowing no one answer would ever be enough given their situation; however, Maggie’s feelings were most important, and Alex would find a way to give her the stars if she so much as dared to gaze upon them.

“Where do you want us to go from here?” Alex asked.

“Maybe we don’t go anywhere. Maybe we stay in this room forever.”

Alex smiled, leaning close to Maggie’s ear from behind so that Maggie could feel warm breath on her ear.

“As much as I’d love to stay in this room with you forever Maggie Sawyer, you are too perfect to be contained within these walls or anywhere else.”

“But that doesn’t cure the conundrum, does it?” Maggie asked, heartbreak in her voice, “When we leave this room, you’ll still be a thief and I’ll still be a bounty hunter.”

“Then let’s not waste our time; let me be good to you. Let me love you while it’s simple, and we can figure out the more complicated stuff when we’re _the thief and the bounty hunter.”_

**Maggie**

Maggie nodded lightly as she grabbed Alex’s hand and slid it down her side. The thief surrendered, letting the bounty hunter assume control and put her hands where Maggie needed them. Maggie moved the thief’s hand down to her thigh and Alex tensed, momentarily taking control as she grabbed the underside of Maggie’s ass, the pull providing relief to the bounty hunter’s growing warmth. Maggie moaned, taking Alex’s hand to move it back up her abdomen to her nipple, already hard and in need of attention. Alex pinched and Maggie gasped.

“No one has ever made me feel this way,” Maggie said, breathlessly.

“What way?” Alex asked, breath hot against Maggie’s ear.

“ _Fragile_. _Loved_. _Beautiful_. How does your touch make me feel so many things I’ve never felt before?”

“Because _I see you_ , Maggie. _I feel you_. You’re all that I want.”

Maggie moaned as Alex teased her nipple again.

_“Please, Alex, I need you inside me.”_

She gasped as Alex moved her hand from her nipple, briefly grabbing the underside of her breast before tracing down Maggie’s abdomen and crossing the side of her ribs to her ass.

“ _Please_ ,” Maggie plead, as Alex’s fingertips gently dug into her.

“You’re _beyond_ gorgeous, Maggie…” Alex replied, as she slid her fingers through Maggie’s moisture, momentarily rubbing small circles against the bounty hunter’s clit before entering her, “crazy beautiful.”

Maggie groaned at the fullness of Alex inside her. Impossibly whole but still wanting more, she grinded back, down against Alex’s fingers, parting her thighs for Alex’s leg to slide in for further pressure.

“ _Fuck,_ ” Maggie reached down to rub her own clit _desperately_ , hungry for relief.

Alex pumped and twisted inside of her, fingers crossed as they moved against Maggie’s walls.

Maggie tightened around Alex’s fingers, on the edge of screaming but still working towards climax, erupting when Alex grabbed the side that was flush against the bed and flipped the bounty hunter up so that Maggie was on top of her, screaming as she throbbed around the fullness of Alex’s fingers inside her.

Maggie felt her body go limp after thrusting into the reverberations, falling into Alex’s body. She could hear Alex wince slightly before the thief wrapped her arms around her, kissing her back once again while whispering things Maggie had never dreamed she’d ever hear.

“I’ve seen the world, countless times, and still nothing compares to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Winn this time, but next chapter definitely. Chapter 8 will have plenty of fluff and smut as well, before inevitably delving back into the more action-y plot. Let me know what you think?
> 
> Thank you for your kudos and comments! :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't really know what to say about this chapter. It's a bit filthy? I wouldn't say full on smut--still striving for the slow burn in that regard.

**Maggie**

Maggie twitched in Alex’s tightly wound arms as her body came down from its high, melting into the embrace after the shudders subsided and her breathing slowed. Her mind raced like her heart, erratic and full, speckles of electrical pulses igniting like fireworks within her glistening mass.

Only two other times had such a spark overcome her. Two times in which those close to her considered her lucky, because to feel it once was to strike gold, but to feel it twice? Maria told her she was blessed, while Lee insisted that she’d been gifted some universal magnetism by an unquantifiable power, or that she was first born as a beacon before being cut from human loin, taking her final form as the demigoddess of light, fated to beckon lost souls to cross galaxies for her.

 _Lee was always a bit much,_ and _Maria faithful,_ but they were the only two people she had. They were _her_ people, so she _tried_ to believe them.

Yet no matter how much they swore by her fortune, striking gold twice had the same outcome: first she’d be mesmerized at the way it shined and it shimmered, how it would sparkle just for her, gleam under her touch. Inevitably awestruck, it would draw her in closer and closer until she found herself flush against _it_ , breathing for _it_ , breathing _it_ in until the particles laced her throat and sank to the bottom of her burning lungs. Until the only way to keep breathing was to gasp and hope whatever little amount of oxygen she’d draw in would be enough to sustain the need.

And even after years of wheezing independent of the chemical, Maggie was still gasping: visions of the childhood crush whom she’d never gotten to call hers flooded her mind; traces of her first love, Kate, in her veins; they were still there, inside her, as remnants and scar tissue.

Sugar-coated clichés were given in her devastation—bullshit phrases like _better to have loved and to have lost than to have never loved at all—_ simulating silver-lining and completely missing the point. They offered no comfort, but instead, a reminder that optimists were all around her, their sunny dispositions so bright she’d need sunglasses or else go blind.

Because regardless of their idealistic nature to believe in purpose and destiny, love wasn’t worth it: it wasn’t worth the ruin and desolation that burrowed deep inside of her soul after the loss of it; it wasn’t worth the stinging tears pouring from sleepless, bloodshot eyes; it wasn’t worth the perpetual self-loathing, the constant tingle in the back of her throat that reminded her that she would never be good enough, for _it_ or for herself.

Alex shifted underneath her, uprooting the bounty hunter before she could sink further into her not-so-distant past. Maggie pulled away, lifting herself off the thief as she remembered Alex’s injured thigh.

“Your leg!”

“And now you’re distracted… my… how the tables have turned.” Alex smiled, twinkling eyes blinking back to meet Maggie’s. The bounty hunter’s heart fluttered, gaze lost in the glow. Maggie bit her lip, momentarily forgetting to speak.

“Are you okay? I shouldn’t have been on top of you like that.”

“Don’t forget that I’m the one who flipped you up,” Alex said, reaching to brush a strand of hair out of Maggie’s face. “I wanted you on top of me. That said, we probably should change my bandage again.”

Maggie reached out to touch Alex’s face, thumbing over the faint freckles speckled across her cheeks before nodding.

_Love._

Maggie wanted nothing to do with it.

The bounty hunter looked around the bed, spotting the first-aid kit on the floor. She reached over and grabbed it, then moved to Alex to take care of the wound.

“How are you feeling? Do you need painkillers?” Maggie asked, gloves already on and unwrapping the bandage around Alex’s thigh.

“Nah… I think with all the dopamine neurotransmitters I’m probably already high enough,” Alex replied, brow furrowing as a shy smirk stretched across her face.

Maggie *gulped* at the adorable shyness in Alex’s smirk before tearing herself away, returning her attention to the woman’s wound. The thief had so many layers—each one newly uncovered adding more depth to the kindling in Maggie’s stomach.

What if this, with Alex, wasn’t love?

What if it was something else?

Could it be something else?

Maggie continued to work, lost in her thoughts. It wasn’t until Alex’s hand was burning into the top of her own that she realized she was done applying the new bandage. Her eyes fell, fixed on the fiery contact, until Alex caught her under her chin and guided her back up, cocking her head to the side to meet Maggie’s eyes halfway.

Or, what if it _was_ love?

How would she know?

With Kate, it had never felt _this_ way.

“Hey,” Alex said, brushing her fingers against the bounty hunter’s cheeks “are you okay?”

_With Kate, it was passionate,_

_but never burning,_

_never tender,_

_never weightless._

Never had Maggie’s heart wriggled in its cage…

 _Until Alex_.

“I’m just a little in my own head,” Maggie said, scrunching her forehead before leaning into Alex’s touch.

“Anything I can help with?”

Lost in Alex’s eyes again, Maggie leaned in to catch Alex’s soft, perfectly pink lips with her own.

And there it was again.

_Fire._

But neither her body nor mind urged her to extinguish it; instead they begged her to feed it, to relent: to succumb to its power and let it consume her.

And when she surrendered, her hands moved, possessed with purpose and piety. They pulled Alex closer by the back of her neck, slipping over her shoulders before sliding down her chest. Alex’s body responded, dispelling all tension as Maggie kneaded at her and edged her toward the heat the bounty hunter herself was already ablaze with.

Maggie adjusted on the bed, pulling Alex on top of her carefully so that the thief was facing and straddling her upright.

“Is this position okay?” Maggie asked as she nipped at Alex’s neck before moving her lips to place sweet, chaste kisses between Alex’s breasts, all the while dreamily looking up at the auburn-haired beauty.

Alex bit her lip and nodded, throwing her arms around Maggie to caress along her back.

“Will you tell me if it hurts your thigh or if you need me to stop?” Maggie held Alex’s gaze then pulled the thief closer so their chests were pressed flush together.

“I promise, but…” Alex grinded her hips into Maggie, already seeking relief.

Maggie’s mouth watered, her short nails digging into Alex’s waist.

“ _I need you to take me_ ,” the thief continued, closing her eyes and throwing her head back, parting her lips while releasing a small moan of delight from the friction before meeting Maggie’s gaze once more, “ _how you need me_.”

 

**Lucy**

When Lucy came to in the empty hotel room after having been knocked unconscious by the _bounty hunter_ , presumably, she promised herself that she would not be blindsided again; and yet, there she was, positioned across the street from the bounty hunter’s location, eyes peering through binoculars and into a window to find the bounty hunter doing things _—incredible, filthy, things_ —to Alex.

Lucy’s mouth hung agape as her mind processed what was happening. She had been convinced that Sawyer had knocked her out so she could take Alex for herself, and _well_ , the major had been _sort of_ right; however, when Lucy thought _“for herself,”_ she figured that Sawyer would be taking Alex to the FBI, not to… _Pleasuretown_?

Lucy wondered how she’d missed it, in the hotel room when she and the bounty hunter had barged in to find Alex on top of Cat Grant: Alex had blushed.

_Alex._

_Alex fucking Danvers._

_Blushed._

Lucy hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. She had been so shocked to see Cat Grant underneath her ex that she had barely noticed the pink that crept across the thief’s pale cheeks let alone the way Alex’s eyes immediately shot to the dark-haired bounty hunter. What was it that she’d said to Sawyer?

_‘It’s not what it looks like, Maggie?’_

Lucy reprimanded herself for missing something so huge. If she had caught it—their connection or _whatever_ —she wouldn’t have let her guard down, wouldn’t have been knocked unconscious, wouldn’t have woken to find Alex’s phone smashed… wouldn’t have had to illegally trace Sawyer’s phone to get their new location…

And best of all, she wouldn’t have to watch the bounty hunter put her ex- _everything_ through such a _heated_ , _spiritual, and acrobatically vigorous sexual awakening;_ one from which she could _not_ withdraw her eyes.

Lucy sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. She was so much more than a little annoyed. _She was turned on._

And why wouldn’t she be? Aside from the heartbreak that Alex had caused—conveniently the _last_ thing on her mind—there were two gorgeous women moving fervently against one another in an act of sheer passion only meant for them but in her direct line of sight.

It was _hot_. So hot, in fact, that when warm moisture rushed to core, she clenched her in hopes of fending off the screaming need to touch herself.

But of course it didn’t help, nor did the reality of it being ~~kind of~~ creepy-wrong to do such a thing.

Lucy sighed as the itch grew deeper, summoning her fingers to relieve the aching need. She shifted, and shifted again, paced a few steps, but nothing could quell her body’s demand.

She closed her eyes and pictured James. Tall. Hard. Sexy.

That didn’t help either.

_Tall, hard James… watching… with me… Alex getting fucked so beautifully. Oh god._

It was too much. Suddenly her fingers had dipped into her waistband, moving desperately against her aching clit as she lowered the binoculars, still able to see Maggie Sawyer work.

 

**Alex**

Their first time, the night before, Maggie had been sweet, gentle. The bounty hunter delicately kissed Alex, touched her hard only when Alex needed it.

But this? This was something entirely different.

It was like the words Alex had muttered at the beginning had stirred something animalistic and primordial in the bounty hunter. Maggie wasn’t touching her; she was _devouring_ her, taking her selfishly, how she’d needed the thief, just as Alex had demanded.

_And god was it good._

Maggie’s hands were everywhere: digging into Alex’s back; squeezing her ass, the insides of her thighs; on the back of her neck; grabbing the undersides of her breasts; twisting her nipples; rubbing her clit; tugging her labia.

And every time Alex was close, she’d start to squeeze her legs together only to have them pushed back open.

When Maggie penetrated her—shallowly, _finally_ —her walls throbbed restlessly around the bounty hunter’s fingers, _stars on the horizon_.

But then Maggie added another finger and needlingly clutched Alex’s ass, pulling her in so that they her fingers were completely submerged in Alex’s pussy. Maggie fucked her deep and hard, sucking on her hardened nipples until Alex howled and squeezed her thighs together before inevitably pushing them apart once more.

_It was so fucking sexy._

But what made it the best is that it was _just_ fucking. There was something in Maggie’s eyes, in her careful, calculatedly rough touches.

Something that looked an awful lot like how Alex felt.

Desperate and starving and senseless and raw.

And Alex couldn’t get her fill of it.

 

**Winn**

Back from his mission, Winn walked tentatively into the loft after having called Alex several times on her backup cell phone only to get her automated voice mail. Briefly scanning the living area, he tensed when hearing unintelligible noises coming from… Alex’s room?

Quiet and slow, Winn creeped closer to Alex’s room until his ear was pressed flat against the door. He readied himself, prepared to burst in to save Alex from Maggie if needed. So what if the woman had saved Alex? Winn saw right through the bounty hunter. He wouldn’t trust her with a ten-foot pole!

 _Wait. Is that the saying? What would she do with a ten-foot pole anyway? Probably something… awful. Because she’s that untrustworthy!_ _She’s probably already torturing Alex!_ _Probably got her tied-up on the other side of the door!_

The more Winn thought about Maggie, the more wound up he got. Seething, he listened carefully while holding his breath.

 _‘Maggie…’_ he heard, before a muffled pause, _‘stop!’_

His face ablaze with anger, he squeezed the handle and rushed into the room.

Too busy bursting in, he did not have time to consider the likelihood of a word preceding 'stop': _don't._

As in, don't stop.

_As in... oh god no._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Winn is traumatized.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, maybe Winn's a bit pissed at Alex, too. Possible twist at the end?

**Winn**

Seconds. Seconds was how long he’d held the door open before running out and slamming it soundly behind him. Seconds that he would usually consider miniscule, irrelevant blocks of time. Seconds that, in this instance, did not seem minuscule but never-ending.

Winn remembered that time in high school when he accidentally walked into the wrong locker room and saw a girl changing, pulling a shirt over her head to reveal a white lace tank top underneath. Any other teenage boy might have apologized, walked away, and forgotten about it. He, on the other hand, started a blog _to deal with his feelings_.

He wondered if starting a blog would help like it did then, to numb the embarrassment of walking in on someone doing something… _private_.

In retrospect, the girl in high school had probably barely noticed him, and honestly, it wasn’t that big of a deal given that his eyes fell on her tank top instead of bare skin. And while it certainly felt harrowing then, it could _never_ compare to what just happened—to the seconds of seeing _that_ , now burned into his memory on infinite loop.

_Violent. Erotic. Sweaty._

He’d walked in on Alex slamming down hard onto Maggie’s fingers all while the bounty hunter dragged teeth over the thief’s chest, bodies sliding together in a slippery rhythm.

_Oh god._

And the worst of it? The noises. What he would give to erase those _alarming_ noises from his memory… _to quiet them now_ , because big-red-fucking-Rao _they were still going at it_. Neither of them had even looked at him when he barged it, and of course was he thankful for that, but they knew… they knew he was there and… nevertheless they persisted!

Knocking hard, Winn resolved to put an end to it.

“Cut it out in there!”

_“That’s it baby, fuck my fingers…”_

_“Fuck, Maggie, give it to me… more…”_

“Guys! _Please!_ _Please stop!”_

“ _Don’t you dare fucking stop, Mag—.”_

“Yes Maggie! Stop! Please… Please stop!”

_"I won’t stop, Alex. I won’t ever fucking stop. You feel too fucking good to stop.”_

“ _Jesus Christ, you animals! I… just… What the hell is wrong with you guys?”_

Winn walked over and plopped down on the couch, cradling his head in his hands while scowling through the gasps and the cursing and the filthy screams until eventually he heard one loud, guttural cry and, what he himself surmised to be seismic shifting _because tremors were the only explanation for such quaking_.

**Alex**

Alex’s body stilled, falling limp against the glistening bounty hunter before Maggie leaned back so that the thief was resting on top of her, Alex’s head planted comfortably on Maggie’s chest. In her daze, Alex melted into the arms that wrapped around to enclose her, lost herself in the thunder of Maggie’s heartbeat.

She smiled. This was good with Maggie. This was happiness. Maggie was happiness.

Alex basked in the feel of Maggie’s body beating beneath her own until her body and mind were once again functioning, then reluctantly pulled herself from the clutches of an adorable, mumbling, pouting Maggie.

She threw her feet over the side of the bed and to the floor, scanning for clothes to throw on before leaving the room to check on Winn. Finding her bra and t-shirt close, she pulled them on as she glanced out the window, briefly seeing…

_Lucy?_

Alex blinked. No one was there. It wasn’t like her to imagine things but… better safe than sorry. Alex leaned over to the nightstand and grabbed her phone, opening an app before pressing a button that slid a steel panel over her window.

Maggie groaned at the sudden darkness.

“I know, baby. I thought I saw something… so just in case.” Alex said as she turned around, and leaned down to kiss Maggie’s forehead.

Spotting her pants on the other side of the room, she got up and walked around the room to pull them on.

“I’m going to go talk to Winn,” Alex walked back towards Maggie, “but you stay in here and rest as long as you’d like,” she continued before leaning down once more to place her lips on the beautiful woman beneath her.

 

**Winn**

After fifteen minutes passed in blissful silence, Winn felt himself relax, _finally_ , though while the tension in his muscles subsided, he still felt fury growing in his stomach. Not for that… _primitive display_ , but instead because it seemed Alex was no longer playing by the rules they needed to be playing by if they were ever going reach the end of their mission.

Winn heard the door open and turned, his face almost flushing as deep red from embarrassment as Alex’s was from her _workout_.

“Hey Winn… uh, sorry about that?” Alex said, smiling.

_Smiling! The woman was smiling! What nerve!_

“What. The. Hell. Alex...” Winn started, angrily, “What happened to no funny business? What happened to… focusing on the mission? What happened to healing?!”

Alex shifted uncomfortably while looking toward her door, then walked over to Winn to sit down next to him on the couch.

“Everything is fine. We’re still on target,” Alex responded quietly.

“Is it really, Alex? Is everything fine? Because you’re violating protocols left and right; you’re not only bringing the enemy to bed, but you’re sleeping with her too; you blew your chance getting into the LuthorCorp fundraiser ball; you’re injured and so I’m carrying out phases you should be carrying out…”

Alex pursed her lips together and looked down, as if a wave of guilt was starting to settle into her body.

“Mr. Green and Ms. White are concerned,” Winn spat, interrupting Alex’s brief pause with a warning.

_“What? What did you tell them?”_

“I told them you’re injured and distracted; I told them about Sawyer!”

“Are you fucking serious? _Why the hell would you do that_ , Winn?”

“Because you don’t even realize, or if you do you don’t seem to care, that you could be blowing this whole mission. We’ve been at this for _years_ and you’ve never been distracted like this. It’s like you want to throw it all away and for what? Some woman who is going to drag you to the FBI the first chance she gets?”

“She already had her chance to drag me to the FBI, Winn. And she didn’t. What more do _you_ need to be convinced we can trust her?”

“What the hell has gotten into you Alex,” Winn paused, swallowing hard because _why the fuck did his mind go there_ , “you’re the most focused person I’ve ever met and yet you’ve barely got your head on straight right now, talking about how she did you one favor and now we can just… blindly trust her.”

“What the hell has gotten into me, Winn? _What the hell has gotten into you?_ Are you _jealous_ or something? Everything is under control and yet you’re freaking out, peddling concern as a justification. I don’t need your shit! That woman in there,” Alex said, pointing to her bedroom door, “saved my life. There would be no mission if it wasn’t for her.”

“Now I know something is wrong with you! You’re like my sister, Alex, _why_ the _fuck_ would _I_ be jealous?”

**Maggie**

The conversation between Winn and Alex started in whispers but eventually erupted, aggressive yelling echoing about the open space before finding a way through Alex’s bedroom door.

Maggie sighed. Why should Winn trust her?

But the conundrum far surpassed that one clause, because stepping across the threshold of Alex’s bedroom door meant leaving a fantastical illusion in which reality had no dominion, meant returning to the real world, where details derailed desire and sociomoral constructs deemed only the honorable as worthy of love.

Would Alex always be a thief? Would they be on the run forever? Would Maggie be able to live with herself after abandoning all her values? Those were the questions that waited for answers on the other side of the door, rightfully demanding tact and backbone. Stepping through that gateway would be to take a step backwards into uncertainty, where Maggie once had so little to lose but now so much more.

The bounty hunter got out of bed and looked around for her stray clothing items, pulling them on one by one as the shouting continued. Once fully clothed, she tentatively put her hand on the doorknob and twisted, looking back at her pipedream palace one more time before crossing the border back into reality.

_“This isn’t about her, Winn. Leave her out of it!”_

_“Like hell it isn’t. You’ve got your head up your ass!”_

“Al, he’s right…” Maggie interrupted, two blood-red faces turning to glare at her succinctly.

…

 _“What?”_ Alex asked, incredulously.

“Yeah! ...What?” Winn added, just as confused.

“I mean that neither Winn, nor you for that matter, have any reason to trust me. I… I could be playing you. _I’m not._ But I could be, and I see where he’s coming from.”

“Yeah, but you just said it yourself… you’re not playing us, which is what I’ve been saying.”

“But he’s just trying to keep you both safe. It makes sense.”

“Fine…” Alex sighed.

…

“Wait, did I just win?”

Maggie ignored the hacker, walking closer to a clearly annoyed Alex and throwing her arms around the thief’s waist.

“We need to talk… About the logistics of what a potential relationship would mean and if it’s even possible. And frankly, Winn needs to be a part of that discussion.”

Alex sighed before submitting to the bounty hunter’s request, then replied dully, “Okay, let’s talk.”

“Wait, why should I be a part of this conversation?”

“Because we need to trust one another, and figure out if that’s dependent on honesty, and if so, what degree of honesty.” Maggie replied.

Winn shook his head, then took the lead.

“Okay, well then I’ll start… Maggie, do you still plan on having Alex arrested by the FBI or any other organization?”

“Not currently, no. I have… _feelings_ … and I… I’m not planning on that. But honestly, as much as you need to trust me, I need to know what’s going on. There’s some stuff that doesn’t add up.”

“One thing at a time, Sawyer,” Winn replied, “What’s your infatuation with the FBI in the first place?”

“I’ve been a bounty hunter for a little over two years now because I don’t like being told what to do. The higher the profile of targets I bring to the FBI, the better chance I have of becoming an independent contractor with access to their resources.”

“So, you’re just going to throw your life away—your dream—to be with a criminal?”

Maggie looked at Winn then over to Alex, watching as the thief tensed and turned away at the unanswered question. Maggie reached out to grab Alex’s hands, gazing upon her reassuringly.

“I’m hoping that maybe we can find a new dream, together, actually… I know that you guys keep talking about how important this _mission_ is… maybe if you bring me in, we can work together to reach the end as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, but Maggie, telling us a few tidbits about yourself doesn’t establish trust. We can’t bring you into what we’re doing just because of the little details you’ve given us.” Winn replied.

“He’s right, Maggie, we can’t bring you into this fully at this phase without knowing we can trust you one hundred percent.” Alex agreed, much to Winn’s satisfaction.

“Well, say that I follow you blindly, how do I trust you? Stealing is one thing, but what about killing? I don’t want any part of that, and that’s just one crime of many that I can’t bend for.”

“It’s not like that,” Alex said, “I mean, I can’t promise that no one will get hurt but I can promise that I won’t kill anyone unless there is no other choice. I know how that sounds, too, and it must seem like whatever it is that we’re up to is selfish, but it isn’t. We’re going to help a lot… people.”

“Yeah, but Alex, how do I know which people you’re helping? You could be helping tyrants for all I know.”

“We aren’t.” Alex said plainly, while Winn nodded.

“Okay, so say I’ll _deal_ with that. What are the next phases of your plan?”

“Well, we need to find a way into the LuthorCorp ball since I couldn’t convince Cat Grant to take me as her date… thanks for that by the way,” Alex replied, smirking.

“Maybe I just wanted to take you myself.” Maggie eyes sparkled as she retuned Alex’s smirk.

“Okay ladies, I’m going to cut off the flirting before it goes too far. Let’s just get back to brainstorming a new way into the ball, okay?”

“As much as I was flirting I was also serious… I can get us in.”

Alex and Winn, both speechless, stared at her blankly.

“Give me a minute…” Maggie said, staring back at the two with raised eyebrows, noting the sudden change in their demeanor.

Maggie pulled out her phone as she walked to the bedroom for a bit of privacy. She scrolled through the short list of contacts until reaching her recently estranged best friend, then thumbed the call button.

“Maggie… Thank god. I was hoping that you would call.”

“I can never stay away too long… you should know that after twelve years of friendship.”

“Yeah, yeah… but just because you always come around in the end doesn’t mean that I don’t feel like a complete asshole for sleeping with your ex. I broke code.”

“Hey, I’m over it. Kate is… Kate. She and I have been done for a year, and I know that sleeping with her was just a physical thing for you, and you were drunk so, whatever. Let’s just put it behind us, alright?”

“Alright. I promise that I will be a better friend though, Maggie. I feel so shitty and I’m terribly sorry for putting you through that. Let me make it up to you?”

“It’s okay. We’re good, I promise… There is something that you might be able to help with though… any chance you can get my date and I into the LuthorCorp ball tomorrow night?”

“Maggie, please. Of course I can. You know Lex is going to go crazy when he sees you with a date though, right?”

“Yeah, yeah… well, I would expect nothing less. What’s one night compared to a decade of almost-stalking?”

They giggled, remembering their awkward teenage years when Lex would peer at Maggie longingly from dark corners of the Luthor mansion.

“Anyway, Mags, I hate to cut our glorious reunion short, but I’ve gotta run. People to do, things to see. You know how it goes. But I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay? And for the record, I’m really happy we’re talking again. I missed you terribly.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow… and I missed you too, Lena.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maggie is best friends with Lena Luthor. Twist? Obvious twist? 
> 
> How will Maggie's relationship with Alex fair considering her involvement with the Luthor family?
> 
> EDIT: Now that I'm working through the next few chapters, it's occurred to me that this is about to get realllly crazy, and unfortunately, I don't have anyone to bounce these crazy ideas off of. If you might be interested in having some of, if not all, the story ruined for you and giving feedback, please please please email me at garbagegirls167@gmail.com and I will give you shout outs and send good vibes your way (and/or return the favor).


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reality bites, though not in the literal sense this time.

**Alex**

“You’re pacing…” Winn said, noticing the shift in Alex’s demeanor. “Anxious much?”

Alex stilled herself as she looked up to meet eyes with the hacker before breathing a long sigh of frustration.

“Yeah, well, I have you to thank for that…” Alex paused for a moment, realizing her statement may not have come off as genuinely as she intended. “I meant that sincerely... I admit that I have been a _bit_ distracted… and I appreciate you being brutally honest with me, even though you said everything I didn’t want to hear; even though we both know I could tear you in half for striking a nerve.”

Winn tensed briefly before flashing a shy grin of satisfaction at the thief as the door to Alex’s bedroom opened beside him; he moved, making room for Maggie’s exit. The short woman walked into the living room with a modest smile shown on her face.

Alex and Winn both inhaled deeply, holding their breath until hearing Maggie mutter “We’re in,” before releasing collective sighs.

“How did you manage to pull that one off, Sawyer? Usually those things are impossible to get into for anyone who isn’t the wealthy elite,” Winn remarked.

“Just lucky I guess…”

“No really, Sawyer. Do tell.” Winn insisted, all the while Alex cocked her head to the side while staring at Maggie inquisitively. It seemed an awful lot like Maggie was purposefully withholding helpful information regardless of their agreement to cooperate less than fifteen minutes ago.

“Alright… I have a friend on the inside. She kind of owed me one, so I asked her if she could get me and a date into the fundraiser and she agreed. No big deal...”

 _More ambiguity._ Alex pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

“This friend of yours must be pretty powerful if she can get us in last minute, without breaking a sweat…” Alex commented contemplatively.

“You could say that.” Maggie retorted as she brought her own arms up, crossing them along her chest to mirror Alex’s pose.

“So I suppose you don’t want to share, then?” Alex asked as Winn shifted on his feet, almost crossing his arms before awkwardly placing them on his sides as to not disrupt the harmonized dynamic of Alex and Maggie.

“Oh, happy to share… just as soon as you tell me what business we have at the fundraiser ball.”

Alex’s brow furrowed as her mouth fell into a frown. Maggie Sawyer was going to drive her _crazy_ , and apparently in more ways than one.

“Sawyer… did we not just talk about this fifteen minutes ago? Did you not agree to trust me without demanding all the details?”

“I’m not demanding _all_ the details, Danvers. I’m demanding to know why it’s so important that you attend the _LuthorCorp_ fundraiser.”

“So… what you’re saying is that from now on I have to give to get? That we’re trading secrets?”

“I suppose you could think of it that way…” Maggie nodded.

“And how does that foster trust?” Alex asked, brow still furrowed, slightly twitching.

“Danvers, this is going to have to happen gradually, right? The rules can change, but for now this is the way to go.”

Alex sighed, looking down as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt while considering her options. She couldn’t tell Maggie about _why_ she needed to access LuthorCorp; she couldn’t even tell Maggie about _what_ she needed to sell Lex; however, she _could_ tell Maggie she had a business proposition for him.

“Okay…” Alex said as she glanced reassuringly at Winn before turning to set her sights back on the beautiful brunette to his side. “I have something that may be of interest to Lex Luthor.”

“And what might that be?” Maggie asked, raising her eyebrows quizzically.

“I can’t tell you that… right now.”

Maggie nodded, “Fair enough… but why the fundraiser? Why not just set a meeting with him?”

“You think Lex Luthor meets with just anybody? Lex sits atop a multibillion dollar empire… _He_ selects the elite, but only from those who attend his extravagant events.”

“So, this fundraiser is a way of validating your status and getting his attention?”

Alex nodded, watching as Maggie pensively shuffled across the hardwood flood toward in her direction before taking the thief’s hands in her own.

“You don’t plan on hurting anyone? Right?” Maggie asked, her quiet voice pleading for reassurance.

Alex brought her hand up to Maggie’s cheek, brushing it lightly with her knuckles before tucking a strand of hair behind Maggie’s left ear.

“No one will get hurt if I have anything to say about it,” Alex replied, hoping Maggie could see that she meant it, that the gesture wasn’t merely polite, empty.

Maggie nodded again, then disconnected her hands from Alex’s as she shuffled away from the thief whose hands were suddenly cold and fidgeting without purpose.

“My friend who owed me a favor… uh, my best friend, actually...” Maggie paused for a breath, sighing nervously into the heavy air of the open room. “That’s who got us in… Lee… or Lena, rather,” she said, turning back to face Alex and Winn.

Alex’s gaze shifted to Winn as the hacker started to mutter incoherently under his breath, eyes widening while he paced back and forth. Abruptly, he stopped and twisted his head, and then his body, toward Maggie.

“Lena? As in… Luthor? As in… Lex’s little sister? As in Lena Luthor?” Winn asked superfluously as Alex inhaled, holding her breath. They already knew Maggie’s answer; their bodies had already tensed with the revelation. Alex shot Winn a glance that silently commanded him to calm down, and it was clear that he tried, but his body was still frozen with tension and Maggie took notice.

Alex’s eyes drifted from Winn to Maggie as silence momentarily took control of their interaction. Maggie looked back at her with curiosity and confusion that bordered on suspicion. When the bounty hunter opened her mouth to demand an explanation, Alex’s mind raced to find one.

“You guys are acting weird now… after finding out about my friendship with Lena…” Maggie commented. “Why is that? Because as far as I can tell, there would be no reason to be weird about me and Lena unless you haven’t been totally honest about what business you have with Lex…” Maggie scrunched her forehead and placed her hands on her hips while shifting on her feet.

_Should I say I hooked up with Lena once? No… What if I say we met in college and were fiercely competitive in a class? No… I don’t think Lena went to NCU. I can’t just make stuff up as I go along when I don’t know enough about either of their pasts… and Lena will probably be there tomorrow night… Shit…_

Alex struggled internally, too deeply lost in her thoughts to realize Winn was scrambling to beat her to the punch.

“No!” Winn blurted, causing Alex to jump as she was pulled from her mind, “It’s just… Alex here…” he continued, walking to Alex before patting her on the back, “Well, she has a crush… on Lena.” Winn said proudly, confident he quelled Maggie’s concern.

Alex’s ears rang, mind buzzing with a new lie she’d have to maintain. _God_ , was she over all the lies and the secrets and the complications despite her ideologies— _or whatever_ —holding no ground in the grand scheme of things. Everything that was happening was bigger than her. She was nothing if not an instrument of change, a self-effacing tool to forge the first fire in a new world.

But her compliance did not require that she enjoy herself, and that was fortunate because she refused to. She’d live the lie with bated breath, internally cursing the greater good until it no longer implored her to carry out its will at any cost, until the purpose she’d realized and surrendered herself to years before would come to its rightful conclusion.

( _And yet, while her immense capacity to follow her gut, to breathe through realizations or premonitions, and then to react rapidly and without conviction, had helped her navigate the throes of change before, its voice fell silent with the introduction of Maggie Sawyer into her life._

 _No, her gut would not tell her this time. It would not warn her that she cannot fully surrender herself to two different entities. Not when it would fall on deaf ears, on a heart torn between love and war_.)

Alex breathed slowly, easing back into the conversation.

“Famous scientist, fierce business woman…” Alex said half-heartedly, “Who wouldn’t have a crush on Lena Luthor?” Alex’s stomach turned as glared up at Maggie, still and speechless, mouth hanging agape.

“Hey, uh, that’s… that’s not the first time…” Maggie sputtered, her face falling to the floor as a frown full of pain erased any sign of her dimples. The sight made Alex’s heart ache, as she saw something akin to insecurity flashed inside the bounty hunter’s dark irises. It was maddening and unjust to see someone so flawlessly beautiful doubt her own perfection.

Alex moved to comfort Maggie but once again, Winn spoke first.

“I’ll bet… people must ask you for her number all the time,” Winn said, cheery and somehow unaware that he had upset Maggie with his previous comment.

Frustrated, Alex sighed loudly while glaring at Winn. The man was supposed to be a genius but he was so incredibly oblivious sometimes that Alex found herself wanting to slap him _lightly_ upside his head.

Maggie smiled shyly with pursed lips, nodding uncomfortably at Winn’s supposition while the hacker appeared visibly shaken from Alex’s silent warning.

“Anyway… um…” Winn started, desperate to change the subject. “I… Well, would you look at that? I’ve got somewhere to be,” he continued, looking at his watch before gesturing to Maggie and Alex and tapping on the glass face.

Winn quickly shuffled across the floor towards the door before turning around, his eyes squinty and his body tense. “Guys? Could you maybe not…”

Alex settled back into her glare, snapping her head towards Winn as she channeled her younger sister as if she were blessed with the same flair for heat vision.

“I’ll be back in an hour?” Winn said, the inflection in his voice bringing to light his silent plea.

Alex huffed, “Just go!” and then he went.

 

**Maggie**

In the minutes that followed Winn’s exit, Maggie stared across the quiet, open space, connecting with eyes echoing the concern in her own, for things had changed, just as she had said they would.

It was sobering—the warmth of reality’s phantom hands reaching for her neck. She rolled her head as a reflex but knew she wouldn’t be able to shake the ghost of circumstance. It would be dizzying and pointless to try, and she feared that it would be just as true on the other side of Alex’s bedroom door as it was on the side she occupied. Maggie shifted uncomfortably on her heels, tensing as growing uncertainty took hold until Alex finally spoke.

“So, I guess it is more complicated now,” the auburn woman muttered while searching Maggie’s eyes. The bounty hunter blinked, then turned away from Alex.

Maggie was silent as she felt Alex’s eyes move with her. How desperately she wished that she could rewind their time to hours ago, when the two of them had been carelessly entangled in one another, stretched comfortably across Alex’s king size bed.

“How are you feeling about all this?” Alex asked.

Falling for a woman on the opposite side of the moral aisle in which she found herself… a woman who _of course_ had a giant crush on her best friend… a woman who she’d known only a few days and had just as many trust issues? How _should_ she feel?

Maggie’s stomach was knotted with doubt as her mind briefly flickered to Kate: to thriving with Kate, to barely surviving without her. What a mess she had been after the breakup, falling into a vicious cycle of putting herself back together only to let herself fall apart again.

She was always certain with Kate; always sure they would be together.

Now she was unsure about being so certain about Kate.

But what did that mean about her uncertainty for Alex?

 _No_ , she was _certain_ that getting lost in possibilities so far out of reach would only leave her broken once more, and this time irreparably so.

Because while Kate was a chemical reactor that she’d barely walked away from, Alex Danvers was a nuclear vessel she would never be able to escape.

The realization was further compounded when Alex’s hands found her face, burning small circles into the bounty hunter’s cheeks as she comforted her and eased her out of her daze.

Maggie reached up to her face and grabbed Alex’s hands to still them as Alex’s eyes pleaded for Maggie to speak, to bare her soul.

But she couldn’t. The very nature of their circumstance was that neither of them could be completely transparent.

And in their happy bubble, she knew that having their cake and eating it too would be complicated and difficult. But it was so much more now, on the other side… the context in which they existed together had shifted.

And it weighed on her that they couldn’t have both.

“I feel like… like this isn’t going to work out,” Maggie finally replied, heaving a deep sigh.

“What? _Why?_ ” Alex asked, brow furrowing with confusion.

“There’s too much going on right now for both of us to pursue a relationship,” Maggie answered dully.

The bounty hunter’s face was firm as her heart broke in her chest.

Alex was silent and aloof; the externalization of what Maggie was feeling internally.

“Listen, I know I keep going back and forth on this. It’s just, sometimes it feels like I can’t think str— clearly around you. I’m just trying to do what’s best for both of us.”

“So, you’re just out then?” Alex asked, ice enveloping her tone as she turned and walked away, hurt.

“Of course not, Danvers. I’ll still help you so long as you keep giving me reasons to trust you.”

“How am I supposed to be close to you without kissing you senseless every time I see you smile?” Alex asked meekly with her eyes closed and head bowed.

 _Good question,_ Maggie thought, wondering how she’d fair _not_ being kissed senseless by the thief.

“We’ll figure it out…”

“But the fundraiser is tomorrow.” Alex said, obvious in her concern.

Maggie smirked knowingly, “So, I suppose I’ll bypass the nines?”

Walking closer to Maggie, Alex brought her hands to Maggie’s hips and the bounty hunter tensed. She wanted those hands there, blistering through the fabric of her clothing, but she had literally _just_ told Alex that it was hands off.

Yet, she couldn’t move to push Alex away.

“Are you sure this is for the best?” Alex asked, tightening her grip on Maggie’s waist.

Maggie nodded as she gazed into Alex’s pleading eyes.

_No._

“Yes, Danvers, I’m sure. Now is not the time for me to be sleeping with an evil henchman, nor is it the time for an evil henchman to be sleeping with someone of such pure heart and soul,” Maggie replied smiling, hoping to provoke the same reaction from Alex. Instead, Alex disconnected herself from the bounty hunter and returned Maggie’s nod.

Maggie gasped at the sudden separation, feeling as though wind had been knocked out of her.

God, if this wasn’t confusing enough.

_My mind’s telling me no… but my body… ugh. Fucking song._

“Okay then, it’s settled. We’re business acquaintances only,” Alex said.

Maggie nodded, dazing out briefly before being overcome with the need to _run_. If she didn’t leave, she knew she’d find herself pressed up against Alex again within minutes, grinding and heaving and needing more than either of them could give.

“I think I’d better get out of here now, but… I’ll meet you outside of LuthorCorp tomorrow,” Maggie said, her own hands perching on her hips, where Alex’s were only a minute before.

“Sounds good, Sawyer. Watch your back though, Lucy is still out there,” Alex responded professionally, without a drop of concern in her voice.

Professional business acquaintances.

Maggie smiled tentatively, then turned and exited out the steel door without so much as looking at the thief.

They could do this. Maggie was _certain_.

**Alex**

Alex’s eyes were still fixed on the door minutes after Maggie’s exit. She scoffed to herself, knowing that Maggie was right to put pause on _them_.

But Alex Danvers was stubborn.

And the stir that she got in her gut, the intuitive sense that had guided her flawlessly over three decades was so subtle that she didn’t even have to try to ignore it.

Business acquaintances?

_Like hell._

_Maggie said she shouldn’t be sleeping with an evil henchman but she didn’t say anything about the devil herself._

Alex smirked.

_Definitely going to use that._

Never mind the fact that she was neither the devil nor a henchman at all.

But she’d been playing the part for years, so why not step it up a notch, just to watch Maggie squirm?

Business was about to become a lot more fun, at least for one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Maggie's yanking Alex around a little, I know, but in a few chapters or so she'll come around. :) Their relationship is tricky to navigate, even for me. Obviously for me... might be as confused about what to do with them as they are.
> 
> Next: Maggie and Lena hang out before the fundraiser and Lena reassures Maggie she's making the right call with Alex; however, after meeting the thief outside of LuthorCorp, Maggie is less confident in her resolve. Lena catches a girl staring in awe of Maggie and Alex dancing and makes her acquaintance.


End file.
